Itsuki and the Memories of Jochen
by Weird Girl 14
Summary: From the Kagome Series; what about Jochen's memories that Itsuki remembered? What was he thinking about through the events, and the untold events? How did everything start for Jochen and Itsuki? Read "Kagome" & "Kagome: The Sequel" first
1. Chapter 1 Dream

Weird Girl: I'M BAAACCK~! :D And I'm alive!

Bob: . . .Why didn't you change your account username number?

Weird Girl: D: Because I didn't have the heart to! I'm very sentimental you know!

Bob: ...And why did you make this story?

Weird Girl: Because I saw how everyone (pretty much) loved Itsuki, then I started thinking about it for a _long_ time. So, in the end, I decided, "Why not?" ^-^ Please enjoy! :D

(**Note_: _**Read "Kagome" and "Kagome: The Sequel" to better understand the story)

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><p><strong>Dream<strong>

"You, want to tell me something?" I looked over at Kiyoko.

_Stop now...Stop while you're ahead._

She was standing by the tree, brushing her pinkish-blue hair behind her ears. Her cheeks were turning pink as the snow continued to fall, the sky was dim, stars shining in the sky. "I-I...I, um..."

_Please...Please don't say it..._

"Kiyoko, what is it?" I walked over to her, curious about what was on her mind, wondering why her cheeks were turning pink.

_Please...just stop it..._

She turned and looked right into my eyes, her own being glossy. "Jochen, I-I love you!" she stuttered, then quickly went to turn away, but I automatically grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her over a bit. I felt my cheeks turn red when she stated that. We stared at each other in silence.

_No...Don't..._

"I-I..." I didn't know what to say. But without realizing it, I was pulling her closer to me, slowly leaning forward.

_Stop it! Just stop it already! You're going to hurt her! Just stop it!_

"I-I...love you, too..." I stated right before I kissed her, holding her close.

_You idiot! Why...? Why? You're just going to hurt her! Just stop it! Please...stop it...you're just going to hurt her... Just...why...? ...Why...?_

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

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><p>AN: I know no Vocaloids or Utaus or any of those are introduced yet, but for ahead of time-I don't own any of them except for the characters I won.

Weird Girl: I hope you like! Good cookies for good reviews, flamers will be living on an island, and silent readers will be forced to talk backwards! :D

Bob: Those things again?

Weird Girl: ...I like to stay traditional...

Bob: ...By the way, isn't constructive criticism count as flames?

Weird Girl: Of course not! You should start reading a dictionary!

Bob: (shrug)


	2. Chapter 2 Beginning

Weird Girl: HELLO EVERYONE!

Bob: Hi.

Weird Girl: I hope you like this chapter! I'll do my best to try to update as regularly as I can!

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><p><strong>Beginning<strong>

I turned over in my bed, groaning. Another dream about that memory...I just want to forget it all. I looked over at my alarm clock that was going off. "Oh shut up..." I sighed as I pressed the "Off" button. I got out of my bed and stretched, looking over at my calendar. It was graduation day. I-well, Jochen, graduated early. Out of all my pass lives...why must I remember only _that_ one?

I got dressed and went downstairs, where my Mom greeted me. "Hello, Itsuki! Are you excited?"

"Ah! Yes! I am!" I said in my false cheerful, happy-go-lucky tone. It was my cover up to hide what I really know, the sad things that I know about life. "Oh! Okaasan, I might not come home right away because I and my friends might be heading out, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled as she leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then I went right out.

The times are so different from my past life memories and my life now. Also, out of all my past life, I barely remember them, except_ that _one, and the others, all I know is that I remember _that_ past life...where I was Jochen...a scientist. I've had these memories as long as I can remember. I think I found out about theses dreams-these memories, what they were about and everything, when I was in second grade. I still remembered the language I spoke from that life, though, I don't know why. And I was always good at science, and picked up some current things in science. But...I just wish that...it would all disappear. That these memories were gone forever! Why am I always reborn in this town? The town where it had _that_ place?

Graduation lasted for a long time; I just wanted to get it over with. Names were called, speeches were said, we got our diplomas and everything. I was tired of the same process, though; I acted all excited about it. When it was all over, I and my friends, Mayu and Yori, went out on a walk.

"I can't believe we graduated!" Yori smiled happily.

"I knew we were going to graduate, but I wasn't sure about Itsuki." Mayu teased. That's how well I tricked my friends, how well I acted.

"Hey! I would have passed anyways!" I whined, though, not really caring what she stated. We continued to talk and walk, talking about college we were going to take, staying together. We continued walking until Yori noticed a path through the forest..._that_ forest...

"Hey, wanna take a walk?" Yori suggested with a smile.

"I don't know...it kinda looks creepy." Mayu frowned as she looked at the forest.

"I say we go." What am I saying? What am I doing? "Two against one! We win!"

"I don't know what if we get lost?" Mayu asked with concern.

"We're taking a path, we won't get lost." Yori stated.

We began to walk along the path with Mayu semi-joking about blaming Yori that if we got lost, it would be his fault. I slowly began to notice that Yori was beginning to space out, like he was listening to something. He began to walk faster and faster, until he was practically running...running away from the path...running towards _that_ direction...

"Yori! Wait up! Don't leave us behind!" We called out, but it was useless, it was like he couldn't hear us at all, and then he got out of our sight.

"What's wrong with Yori?" Mayu asked with concern as we continued to chase after him.

"How would I know?" I asked in my whinny boy voice. I honestly didn't know...why was he running _there_? Why? Why of all places? Why did I even agree to take this stupid walk in the first place? We continued to follow in his general direction, making guesses. We made many mistakes, and it took a long time before...until... Why? Why did we have to find that place?

We found an old, abandon orphanage, _that_ orphanage...It was in bad shape, completely different than what I remembered. Half covered in vegetation, the glass windows extremely dusty. It was...like I said, old. I forgot how many years it has been.

"What is this place...?" Mayu asked as she stared at it.

"Uuuuumm... A building?" I said, still acting. She gave me a look.

"Wait...do you hear that?" Mayu asked. We remained silent, trying to hear. Why? _Why?_ Why _that_ song? And..._why_ was it children singing it? We heard the child song, "Kagome kagome" with children singing it, coming from within the building. I quickly pulled open the doors and ran inside.

"YORI!" I called out as I quickly ran up and down the stairs, trying to follow the dirrection of the singing. Why? Why am I hearing children singing the song...from _this_ building?

"Itsuki! Wait up!" Mayu tried her best to follow me. I finally found the room where the sorce of the singing was coming from. I recognized this room.

"Yori? Are you in there?" I asked, trying to turn the knob and open it.

"I'm in here! The door won't open!" Yori yelled from the other side.

"Yori! Are you okay?" Mayu called out with concern.

"Well, I-I wouldn't call a stab wound in the shoulder okay..." Yori replied.

"What?" Mayu began to freak out. I began to pretend to pick at an invisible lock, when reality, I was trying to unscrew the door knob so I could open it. The screws were rusted, and couldn't be twisted and or pulled out. There was complete silence from the other side of the room, we began to panic and freak out, I still tried my best to do something with the knob. I know I could just try to ram it down...but...I was being stupid, and trying not to be smart, even at a time like this!

The door finally opened and we ran in. Mayu was shocked that children did what they did to Yori. I wasn't surprised by that...I was surprised by how they were still alive...did all those experiments finally work...? I pretended to be my happy-go-lucky "self", messing with Bushido...staying away from the twins... From the studies, they had some abilities of telepathy or whatever...I wanted to make sure they didn't know about me. Yori gave the story about what happened, and that he had to stay there overnight...and what they were trying to see. Mayu didn't understand it, but I did. He told us not to tell anyone-which was obvious for me, and then we left.

I realized that was when the wheels of fate began to turn in motion.

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><p>AN: I do not own any vocaloids I do not own.

Weird Girl: Heh heh...dejavu...!

Bob: Good reviews or any sorta reviews will be getting a lava lamp present. Flamers will be shunned-

Weird Girl: SSSHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuunnnn~!

Bob: . . .

Weird Girl: :3

Bob: ...And silent readers will be forced to sit in an uncomfortable chair-wait, didn't you use this before?

Weird Girl: Funny thing is, I used that right when a silent reviewer reviewed and stuff... XD Good memories~ :3

Bob: ...Okay then.


	3. Chapter 3 Job

Weird Girl: Hello everyone! This is chapter three!

Bob: Hope you enjoy it? ...I thought you say that line.

Weird Girl: Sh! It's starting!

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><p><strong>Job<strong>

"How could we just leave him there?" Mayu asked as tears began to form in her eyes. "What if he is judge to be not 'different' or whatever?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine! I have faith in him!" I stated happily. Inside, I was scared. Why did Yori have to find _that_ place? Why were _those_ children there? Why is all of this happening? I was scared and worried. I didn't know if Yori would actually be okay.

"How do you know?" Mayu asked. I look over at her, wearing a straight face, trying my best not to show concern.

"I just know...It'll be fine, Mayu-chan!" I tried to keep an upbeat tone. Besides...what were we going to do? Go and try to get him, only to kill all of us? Also, once the wheels of fate start turning, you can't stop it...but, what is fate planning anyways?

We went home and I walked in the house where my mother greeted me once more. "Oh! Itsuki, did you have fun?" she moved her dark, short blond hair out of her eyes.

"Ah! We did!" I said happily, lying. I lie to her all the time, so what's the difference? She doesn't even know about me knowing these memories, she almost did though. When I was younger, I told about it once, she and my father were worried I might be depressed or something, therefore, the act I put.

I went up to my room, laid across my bed and just stared at the ceiling. I didn't want to sleep. I just didn't. If I did, I would start dreaming...about those memories. But I did feel tired, so it was inevitable. I closed my eyes.

.

.

_"You're pretty young...you're not even eighteen yet...why should we hire you again?" I was at an interview to get the job as a scientist. Mr. Bayer was an old, rounded, plump man. He had little to no hair except for his grey, thick mustache and his fuzzy eyebrows._

_"Well, I graduated from high school really early, and finished college early also." I explained. "I was top of my classes. A-And, sir, I would do anything for the sake of science and our country-our world!" I stated, trying my best to make my voice not tremble. I was so nervous. The man narrowed his eyes and he leaned forward a bit, stroking his chin._

_"...Alright. You're hired!" he grinned as he pulled out a pin and piece of paper from his drawer. "I need you to sign this first."_

_"Ah, right." I smiled; too excited to read any of it, I just signed right away, then shook his hand. "You don't know how much this means to me, sir!"_

_"Now, let me take you to your new job." He stood up and headed to the door._

_"R-Right now, sir?" I stared in confusion, clumsily getting up._

_"Ya, right now. We need as much people on the job soon as possible, of course." he stated._

_"R-Right!" I quickly began to follow. We went outside and got inside the black, sleek buggy and began driving. I looked all around, seeing the small town where many people were wearing these kimonos, but I saw a couple that wore the type of clothing we wore._

_"So, where are you from?" he asked me. "It's sort of obvious that you're not from around here."_

_"Ja, I'm from Berlin. I heard they needed people on the job over here, so I decided to come see. Japan is such a beautiful place! Such a calming sense to it... Tell me, do their clothing seem just as comfortable as they look?"_

_"Not sure, never worn them myself." he laughed. "But a friend of mine tried it out, he said it was so complicated to put on, but it was really comfortable and more of a free feeling...until he learned that the Japanese friends of his gave him a woman's kimono!" We both laughed as we continued to drive, taking a turn, and parking right outside of the entrance of a forest._

_"But you know, depending on where you are, our dress style is becoming popular-they call it 'western style'. But this town here is small and quiet, more like a small village than just a little town, but it doesn't have any categories to be labeled as a village."_

_"I see." I said as we both got out of the car. "So...why are we out here?"_

_"This is where you're going to be working, there's a building in this forest." he stated. "You'll see."_

_"Okay." I gave a shrug as we continued walking until I found a large building. It looked exactly like an orphanage. I looked over at him. "Sir?"_

_"We're going be working with children. But don't worry; you'll catch onto everything soon." He stated with a smile as we entered. "Oh, and you mustn't mention this to anybody, you hear?"_

_We walked into the building where they were other scientists. I felt my face began to blush when I saw how much older they were, how much more experience they were. I'm young; they're going to probably think I'm useless! I was the youngest one there!_

_"Ah! Bayer-san!" a small, Japanese man came walking over to us, then bowed in greeting._

_"Oh, Mr. Watahiro, how are you?" Mr. Bayer asked, speaking Japanese. "This is Jochen Böhm. He'll be working here now."_

_"He's so young!" Mr. Watahiro stated as he looked over to me. "Well, you do know Japanese?"_

_"Well enough." I replied in Japanese, smiling weakly._

_"You have a heavy accent, but that'll go away with more practice I'm sure." he laughed a bit. I blushed slightly. I knew I had a heavy accent when it came to speaking Japanese._

_"I'm going to leave you in Mr. Watahiro's hands now." Mr. Bayer said to me. "Good luck on your first day." He then gave me a pat on the shoulder, smiling, then left._

_"Ah! Come, come!" Mr. Watahiro started leading me down the halls and up the stairs._

_"This place seems bigger on the inside than outside...how do you not get lost?" I jokingly stated, though, nervous that I would actually get lost._

_"Ahaha, you'll get used to it. You'll learn you'll learn." he stated with a smile. The he lead me to a door of dark, thick wood with a silver knob and opened it. "This will be your office."_

_I looked over at the single window that was in the room, then at the large book cases, all filled up. I walked over to my desk where there was a lamp on a desk. "So, this is my office? I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of work." I chuckled._

_"Ah, you will! But I'm sure you'll get the work done just fine!" He said confidently. He walked over to the desk and pulled out a drawer, looking through files until he pulled out three. "These will be the children you'll be working with."_

_I took the files and began looking through them, sitting down in the chair. They documents or files of them weren't filled out at all, it only contained their picture and their name. I bit my lower lip when I stared at their names._

_"Is something the matter?" he asked._

_"I-I'm sorry, I speak Japanese, but I sort of have trouble reading it." I stated._

_"Ah, I see. Don't worry. Some here only read Japanese but don't speak it, some the other way around like you, few can do both. But it's the same for us for your language. For example, I can only read your language, but I cannot speak it. You may write it in your language if that's what makes you comfortable. I can be able to translate it for the others."_

_"Oh, thank you!" I said. "And, I'm sorry for the trouble that'll cause... By the way, would you mind reading these names for me?"_

_"The oldest girl, her name is Kiyoko. The boy, his name is Masaru. The youngest girl is named Yuki." Mr. Watahiro answered._

_"I see. So...are all the children here...orphan?" I asked._

_"...Yes." he replied after a pause, making me curious. "Come! Come! I'll show you to their room where you'll be working with them today."_

_"Wait, already?" I was surprised how fast they wanted to get things done, but, I guess that's how things were here. I followed Mr. Watahiro down the halls and to a room. Before he opened the door, he turned to me._

_"You cannot have them leave this room unless ordered, and when ordered, you'll directly take them to where you were ordered to take them, got it?" he said. I gave a nod, then he continued. "And also...do not under any circumstances create a bond with them, for you will reget it in the end."_

_I stared in confusion, but before I could ask, he had already opened up the door and had me walk in. I saw the oldest girl, Kiyoko, sitting on the ground with Masaru and Yuki. They look just like their pictures. Kiyoko having her long pinkish blue , long wavy hair and silvery grey eyes. Yuki had her black hair in pig-tails, her chocolate brown eyes all full of shy youth. Masaru had unusual deep scarlet red hair with dark hazel eyes. They all quietly looked up and stared at me._

_"K-Konnichiwa!" I greeted nervously, though, my speech gave Yuki a giggle._

_"He speaks funny!" She whispered to the boy. I blushed as I looked away._

_"He's going to be your new friend, please; you behave when he's around." Mr. Watahiro said to them._

_"Hai." they replied obediantly._

_"I'll be off then. Have fun." he smiled as he left._

_"Hello...I-I'm Jochen!" I stated nervously._

_"Kiyoko."_

_"Masaru..."_

_"Yuki!" They all took turns introducing themselves. After that, there was a long awkward silence. I rubbed the back of my neck. Let's hope things won't remain awkward as I progress through working with them._

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><p>AN: I don't own anything that I don't own.

Weird Girl: So, how do you like the first slice of Jochen's life?

Bob: ...Fine.

Weird Girl: ...Always a critic. :P

(Note: "Ja" will be pronounced like "Ya")


	4. Chapter 4 Wondering

Weird Girl: HELLO EVERYONE! HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER!

Bob: Oh, and we would like to say-

Weird Girl: WHOOT FOR FIRST REVIEWER: TRIPLE BAKA! :D First reviewer-ness :3 Yesth.

Bob: ...Okay then.

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><p><strong>Wondering<strong>

_"So, why do you talk funny?" Yuki asked as she walked over to me. I was writing down notes, about everything from looks, likes and dislikes, behavior, to personality. It was my third week on the job. What have I been doing so far? Studying parts of the brain and skull, reading about what each part is for and such. Taking notes about these children, learning other things._

_I blushed as I continued to write. "J-Japanese isn't my first language. So you see, my accent is from how I usually talk __in my language. In my language, I don't have an accent. I speak perfectly fine."_

_Yuki looked down at my notes, "Are you writing in your language, too? What are you writing down?"_

_"Ja, I am. And-"_

_"Ja?" she gave a giggle._

_"E-em, it's, 'yes', it's a habit of mine-"_

_"I know it means yes, it's obvious! But I still think it sounds funny!" she giggled sweetly. "What are you writing?"_

_"Just notes." I replied. Since I wasn't writing in Japanese, it was easier to lie to them. "I have a forgetful memory, you see?"_

_"Aaah...Your hand writing is beautiful!" Yuki stated with a smile._

_"Heh heh, thank you." I rubbed the back of my neck before looking over at Kiyoko and Masaru. They were on the other side of the room, talking to each other in whispers. "Are they shy?"_

_"Masaru-kun is, but Kiyoko is just keeping him company." Yuki explained._

_"I see..." I got up and walked over to them. When I walked over, they stopped talking and looked up at me. I sat down, "I hope you don't mind if I join."_

_"Ah, no, it's fine." Kiyoko gave a smile to me._

_"Why are you working here?" Masaru asked, talking to me for the first time. "You seem really young...compared to the others that work here."_

_"J-Ja, th-that's true..." I stuttered a bit. "But I am. And, I'm working here because...well, I am."_

_"...You're not good at explaining things, are you?" Masaru asked as he turned his back on me._

_"Masaru-kun, don't be rude." Kiyoko said to him, and then looked over at me-well, facing in my general direction, having her eyes casted down. "So...are you going to be here every day?"_

_"Ya, it seems so." I replied as I continued to write down notes. "...May I say, you two look strange-but in a positively unique way!"_

_"A-Ah, thank you..." Kiyoko blushed, brushing her hair behind her ears._

_"I guess?" Masaru responded with only that. There was another awkward silence, so I started tapping my pen to my paper to try to fill the room with some sound._

_"Wwwaaah~! Why can't we leave this room, Jochen-kun?" Yuki asked as she whined._

_I thought for a long moment, and then replied. "I actually don't know. They didn't really tell me. But I'm sure there's a good reason."_

_"But it's not fun in here! We don't even have a stick to keep our minds busy!" she pouted as she sat down, crossing her arms._

_"I wonder what it's like outside today." Kiyoko asked as she stared up at the tiny window that had barely any natural light coming in._

_"Well, it's a lovely day today, I can tell you that." I smiled at them._

_"I want to go play outside." Yuki puffed as she pouted. "I want to hear this 'good reason' for not to!"_

_I just sighed as I gave a smile, and then looked down at my watch. "Oh, I have to leave now."_

_"Where are you going?" Yuki asked._

_"I'm go finish up work as usual." I replied as I stood up and went to the door. "But as usual, I'll be here tomorrow." then I left._

_I went down the halls and past other scientists that were there and I went to my office and began working. I don't know why I'm supposed to be studying the human brain, but the information is very interesting. For example, the theory of a part of the brain being able to control healing, and if we can improve that part, the body can heal ten times or more faster than average speed depending on the wound. I heard a knock at the door. "Come in. The door's open."_

"_Hello, I'm just here to drop off some files." A woman came in stated. She had blond hair tied up neatly in a bun, and her silver, rectangular framed glasses were placed over her blue eyes. "Wow, they told me that you were young, but I didn't realize how young they meant." She had a thick Austrian accent._

"_Eh heh… I guess I'm mainly getting known for that, aren't I?" I rubbed the back of my neck with one hand, accepting the files from the others. "I'm Jochen, though; I guess you already heard about me."_

"_Ya, oh, and my name is Aloisia." She smiled. "Oh, and they ordered me to tell you not to look through those files yet. I have no clue why, but, orders are orders I guess."_

_I began placing them neatly in the drawer. "I see. Oh…you don't happen to know about why the children aren't allowed to leave this building at all, do you?"_

"_Um… If I remember correctly, they said something about contamination. They don't want the kids to be getting sick or anything I guess." She replied._

"_Oh, I see." I began thinking a bit. "You don't happen to know if it's okay or not if I can bring them any gifts I can bring them, do you?"_

_Aloisia thought for a moment, before giving a slight shrug. "I don't exactly know, but I guess its fine long as you don't grow an attachment to them."_

"_Why aren't we allowed to grow an attachment to them? They never really told me."_

"_Something about…you'll regret it in the end. As in, just in case something happens to them. But I'm not exactly sure."_

"…_another thing, why are we working on children?" _

_She gave a long paused, then placed on a smile that I knew it was false, giving another slight shrug. "I don't have a clue, but it's sort of fun to work with them, don't you think?" then she left before I could say anything else…before I could ask anything else._

_I began to wonder why I do not really know much about what I'm working on for now, maybe its top secret. But I'm sure I'll find out eventually. I looked over at the drawer that contained many files. I would always put them away, but I never knew what were in them. I resisted looking inside of them, since it was ordered for me not to know at this moment. Again, I was sure to find out eventually anyways._

_When my work was completely finished, it was dusk, the time for me to go home. I placed my lab coat on a hook that was on a wall, and went down stairs. I said good bye to everyone, while they were still teasing me about my accent. Apparently, despite not being the only there with an accent, mine was worse. Even the ones that did have a bit of an accent themselves would tease me. But, I get teased for other things, mainly because I'm youngest rookie on the job. I'm sure I'll be able to find a way to make Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki happier soon. I mean, I'm already getting ideas._

_.  
>.<em>

I woke up from another dream, looking over at my clock. I didn't realize I completely feel asleep, from the next day to the afternoon. I thought I had only token a nap, right after Yori had called me to make sure to tell his mom that he did sleep over at my place, and not _that_ one. Right at that moment, I felt my c-phone vibrated. I picked my c-phone vibrate and answered it. "Moshi? Moshi?"

"Hey, Itsuki, we're meeting at the park, and also, I need help making a decision." Yori said from the other line.

"Ah, okay then!" I said cheerfully. "I'll be there as fast I can! Oh! I bet I can be there faster than lightning!"

"…Okay then. See you later then." He said, then he hung up. I gave a little smirk to myself. I got dressed in clothing I didn't sleep in and went off.

"Konnichi-!" I purposely tripped myself when I was running towards them. They gave me a pathetic look as I got back up, "Hey guys! Hehehehe…"

I sat down and started going on about how the town has almost everything named after it, and how they should "shake it up a bit", though, in reality, I just don't plain care about how they named their markets and everything. But Yori completely changed the topic.

"Do you think I should go visit the children?" he asked.

"What? They tried to kill you!" Mayu had asked, giving a big valid point.

"I know…it's just that…it's just that…I don't know…" he gave a sigh.

"I think…he should go." I stated involuntarily. Why did I say that? What was wrong with me? No! He shouldn't go back! That's how I really felt! But why did I just say the opposite?

"Itsuki! Do you _want_ him to die? They tried to- wait, when did you get that?" she asked, pointing to my soda I just pulled secretly from under the table. It was one of the ways I try to appear random and to help change the subject.

"Oh, when you guys weren't paying attention, I-"

"Forget it!" She waved me off with irritation. "Why should he go?"

Why _should_ he go? "Well…They probably have reasons. Why do they want to see if a person is different? Why do they want him to come and visit every day?"

"That doesn't make sense." Mayu sighed.

"It probably does, it probably doesn't." I spoke innocently. But I honestly don't know what I was saying…why? Why am I saying all these things?

Yori stood up, "I'll see you guys later." He started to leave.

"Yori, where are you going?" Mayu asked with concern, but he didn't respond. I knew where he was going, but I didn't say anything. I stood up and went home.

My Mom went to go greet me, but I just continued to walk ahead up to my room, locking the door. I jumped into my bed and stared up at the ceiling. _Why…? Why did I start saying all those things…? Why did we have to find that orphanage…? What's the point of all of this?_ I turned over and groaned. Why was this happening? Is there really a point to this? I gave a sigh. I sat up in my bed and looked straight across the room over to the mirror that hung over my dresser. Why did I have to look so much like him? Like me in the past? Why does life want to torture me? I just wish it would all end… Stop torturing me.

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><p>AN: I do NOT own vocaloid, just the things that belong to me.

Weird Girl: :3 Reviews will be getting ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Bob: You don't have that kind of money.

Weird Girl: ...Reviewers will be getting FREE FOOD OF THEIR CHOICE FOR A MONTH! :D

Bob: ...Good enough.

Weird Girl: I HOPE YOU LIKE! :D

(Oh, and if you ever want to check me out on deviantArt. com I'm WeirdGirl14: http:/ / weirdgirl14. deviantart . com [remove spaces] )

Bob: Why would anyone want to see your dA?

Weird Girl: ... D: Just in case! (especially since I created Komics about you and me and other pictures)

Bob: ...Good luck with that.

(Again, Note: "Ja" here is pronounced "Ya")


	5. Chapter 5 Gifts

Weird Girl: Here's another chapter! :D

Bob: Aren't you going to say another thing?

Weird Girl: Oh yeah...If you read anything that sounds weird and not correct...BLAME MIRCROSOFT'S OPINION OF FIXING!

Bob: You trust microsoft too much.

Weird Girl: Hey! I just started using it and it must be write and and...it's a lot better than my grammar and spelling!

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><p><strong>Gifts<strong>

"_Wha? Are you really giving these to us?" Kiyoko asked in surprise._

"J_a, I hope you like them! You guys seem so bored, cooped up in this room all the time." I smiled at them. I had given them a little Geisha doll and a toy soldier, three tops, and beautifully decorated comb. _

_The Geisha doll wore a long, beautiful, silk patterned kimono with a beautiful, yet, complicated sash (that I don't even know how someone could tie a sash in that way) with her hair all tied up and decorated; her skin was all white with red lips. The little toy soldier wore the uniform of the current Japanese military, complete uniform. The comb was a soft, satin blue that glistened with delicate, lilac, jeweled flowers._

"_These are pretty good quality koma…!" Masaru said in awe, looking at the tops._

"_Koma…? Oh! Of course…the…toys…the tops…" I rubbed the back of my neck._

"_She's really beautiful!" Yuki smiled as she held up the Geisha doll. She then picked up the toy soldier and started playing with those dolls. "Thank you, Jochen-san!"_

"_Hah hah, you're welcome. I'm just glad you like those gifts." I stated. Masaru was already off spinning the tops, trying to have them move over to Yuki and bug her with them._

"_I just can't accept this." Kiyoko stated as she held the comb in her hands. "This must have been expensive!"_

"_Eh, not with the money I make…"I stated. "Why do they make combs overly decorative for just combing one's hair anyways? I mean, it's beautiful, but still."_

_Kiyoko stared at me for a moment, then started to giggle._

"_W-What?" I blushed, feeling like I said something stupid._

"_These combs aren't exactly for combing one's hair." She explained._

"…_Then what are they for?" I asked._

_She pulled some of her hair back, folded a part, and tucked the beautiful comb into her hair. It's for decoration, like this."_

"_You just…leave it in there?" I stared, though, it did look beautiful. Kiyoko gave a nod. "Well, you sure do look pretty." I stated; which was true. With the comb, she no longer had much hair falling in front of her face. She blushed as she smiled, looking away._

"_Thanks for the gifts; we really are thankful for them." Kiyoko said as she bowed a little in thanks._

"_Now we won't always be bored!" Yuki stated with a smile._

"_You know…I like you, Jochen-san. You seem fine." Masaru gave a small smile at me, before returning to playing with the tops—or, koma…which, I'm pretty sure that's Japanese for tops. I smiled to myself, seeing Masaru finally approved of me—well, since it didn't seem like he did before. I wonder if it's only because I brought him toys, but it was still good enough for me._

"_Well, that's good." I chuckled. "Well, I better go to work on some papers now. I've have a lot to do."_

"I'll s_ee you tomorrow, Jochen-san." They said as they gave a smile and wave. _

_I was working in my office as usual, studying the human brain, reading about the human body and organs. I was fascinated by it all, and by the theories of how to improve the human body. For example, affecting parts of the brains so that it could increase the speed of healing, hearing other's thoughts, feelings other's feelings, maybe the ability to live forever! I also heard about the experiments going on in the lab, and I wish I could go in there and observe them all! It would be exciting! But, Mr. Watahito said I might be a bit too young for observing their experiments, but I will in time. There goes my age preventing me from doing something I want again—like how they really don't want me to read the files. I could read it when they're not looking, but, I don't want to ruin my chances._

"_Hello, Jochen." Aloisia greeted me as she walked in, handing me files. She had become a friend of mine, though, like the others, teasing me about how young I am. "I have some more for you."_

"_I'll take care of them." I said as I began to place them away._

"_So…you're studying about the human brain I see…the rest of the body, too, but mainly the brain."_

"J_a! It's so amazing! The theories about ways to help improve our bodies! Telepathy, strength, increase healing abilities! Ha, maybe immortality! I wish that I could go see the experiments taking pla—" I looked up at Aloisia, to see a sad, grim look in her eyes. "…is something wrong?"_

"_Huh? Oh! It's nothing!" I could tell she was lying by the tone of her voice. "It's just that…You might not be able to handle it…"_

"_What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "By the way, what kind of experiments do they do? Why are we working with children again?"_

_Aloisia opened her mouth, but only to be interrupted by someone walking into the room. It was Mr. Watahito and another man walking into the room. The man had orange-brown hair with umber brown eyes._

"_Hello, Watahito-san." Aloisia and I greeted._

"_Hello, I just came to check up on you, Jochen-san." Mr. Watahito stated._

"_Haha, He _is_ so young!" the man laughed teasingly, having an Austrian accent, though, his accent was barely noticeable compared to mine._

"_Again, it seems that's all I'm known for." I laughed shyly, rubbing my neck._

"_Aw, don't worry about it, it's pretty surprising actually. You know, seeing someone young as you having a job like this, you must be pretty smart." He smiled, then he stuck out his hand. "My name is Vinzenz, nice to me you."_

"_Jochen." I shook his hand._

"_I see you met my wife already." He smiled over at Aloisia._

"_Oh! I didn't know she was married!" I smiled over to her. Aloisia smiled shyly as she held up her hand a bit, playing with her wedding rings with other thumb and fingers. The wedding bands looked expensive themselves, and were very stunning._

"_And what a lucky man he is." Mr. Watahito smiled._

"_We were actually married just last spring." Aloisia said._

"_It's pretty surprising how smart she is, a woman already at a high rank." Mr. Watahito praised happily._

"_Oh, Watahito, sir, do I have permission to ask a question?" I asked._

"_You had already asked a question already, so why not another one?" Mr. Watahito teased, smiling and giving a nod._

"_When am I going to participate in observing the experiments? I mean, if you don't want me to be helping you in anyway, observing would be just fine for me." _

"_Haha, an eager one I see." Vinzenz laughed. "I'm sure you're going to get your chance, isn't that right, Watahito-san?"_

"_Ah, it's true. But first, you must learn about the human body and these theories. Then you'll be able to observe when you're ready. And then after all of that, you'll be partaking in the experiments yourself!"_

_I smiled. "I'm glad. I'm going to be excited when that day comes." I looked over at Aloisia, who gave a hidden sad smile. Why does she seem so negative about it? I have no clue. I hope I would find out eventually._

_The next day, I was doing as I usually would do—studying the human body and putting away files and organizing everything. As I continued to work, Mr. Watahito came walking in and dropped a couple of items onto my desk. The gifts I had given to Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki._

"_Jochen-san, please explain to me how the children got these items?" his voice sounded cross, he was not pleased._

"_I-I'm sorry…I-It's just that, I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to give them anything or not, I wasn't informed about that…" I explained very nervously._

"_But didn't I say you shouldn't start getting attached to them?" he gave a look._

_"Y-Yes, sir." I said nervously, my heart pounding a bit._

"_And what do you think giving them gifts do?" _

"_C-Creating an attachment, sir." I replied. He gave a sigh. When his look changed from mad to easing up, I eased up myself._

"_Jochen-san, if you're not careful…you're going to create an attachment, and you will surely regret it. You want to work and help out with the experiments, don't you?"_

_"J-Ja, sir!" I nodded quickly._

_"Then be careful, because no matter what you say, it won't be up to you, it'll be up to us." He stated, and with that, he left. Why's everyone worried that I'll create an attachment? What was wrong with it anyways? When I finished studying, I grab the gifts, hid them in the pockets of my white, clean coat, and went to their room._

_When I walked into the room, I found Kiyoko holding Yuki who was crying. Masaru was sitting down with his arms and legs crossed, looking upset. I walked over to them and started handing back all their gifts._

_"I guess you should make sure they don't find these, am I right?" I smirked a bit._

_"Our presents!" Yuki's face brightened up as she grabbed the dolls. Masaru quickly got up, ran over (almost tripping a bit) and went to grab his koma._

_"You got them back for us!" Masaru smiled happily._

_"Ja. And,_ yo_u mustn't have the other people find them again, okay? Or else they're going to take them away and throw them out."_

"_Okay." Yuki and Masaru gave a nod._

_I looked over at Kiyoko, placing the comb in her hand. "Here, make sure you keep this safe, too. I don't want you to have it taken away from you; after all, it looks pretty on you."_

_Kiyoko gave a nod with a slight blush, placing it in her kimono. Yuki looked up at me as she went to go hide her dolls. "Why don't they want us to have toys?"_

"…_I'm not sure exactly why." I said. "They don't want us getting attached or anything."_

"_Why don't they?" Masaru asked. "That's pretty strange to me, I mean, after all, the more one gets to know the other, the way feelings of closeness will start to blossom."_

_I just gave a slight shrug. "But don't you let the others find out about them again, or else we're going to _all_ be in trouble."_

"_Hai." They all said in unison._

"_Good." I smiled, ruffling Yuki's head a little bit before getting up. "By the way, I'm thinking about showing you pictures someday, if you guys wouldn't mind."_

_They all looked at each other, then back at me, smiling._

"_Okay then. I'll bring some when I find them."_

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><p>AN: I DO NOT OWN VOCALOID! That'll be all.

Weird Girl: WHOOT! CHAPTER-NESS!

Bob: You know, I've been wondering for a while now, do you think we kill the mood?

Weird Girl: ...WE'RE COMEDY RELIEF!

Bob: But what if someone doesn't want comedy relief?

Weird Girl: . . . (thinking face)

Bob: ...(facepalms)

(Reminder: Ja=Ya)


	6. Chapter 6 Photos

Weird Girl: WHOOT! CHAPTER UPDATE!

Bob: Yup...

Weird Girl: Sorry for not updating, busy with school and everything...hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Photos<strong>

"_Wow…that's a big city!" Yuki stated in awe. "How do you not get lost when you were living there?" It's been a complete month since I've been working here. I had been going through my things to find the pictures that I wanted to show._

"_Just like how you grew up in the village here, you just learn where things are." I explained. They all stared at me. "What?"_

"_We're all not really from here." Kiyoko stated._

"_Huh? Really?" I was a bit confused._

"_I mean, I was born here and grew up here. Both my parents were ill and died, so I had been living alone ever since I was eleven. I worked as a servant for a day or so for other people so I could earn money. I was thirteen when some men took told me to come with them, so I did. But I barely remember much about outside. I don't know how much has changed." Kiyoko explained._

"_I've just been wondering from town to town trying to survive. When I came here, they just took me here." Masaru gave a shrug._

"_I had a mommy and daddy." Yuki said. "I don't remember them much anymore…I was just outside walking and playing by myself, then these people in the white coats just came and took off with me."_

_I stared at Yuki in shock. "They kidnapped you?"_

"…_Is that what they did?" Yuki asked, seeing that she never really understood that event._

"_Hey, who's in this picture?" Masaru asked, pointing to one of the pictures._

"_Oh, this one?" I asked, picking it up. "Oh, this is a picture of my brother in his military uniform. He went off to fight in the war. You know, to help make the world better."_

"_Ah, I see." Masaru said._

"_Does he talk funny like you?" Yuki asked._

"_Hah hah, no, no. He doesn't even know Japanese." I laughed. "But I'm sure if he started learning, he might talk much funnier than I." Yuki gave another giggle._

"_Your land is so much different than ours." Kiyoko said, continuing to look through the piles of pictures._

"_Ja, but there are some similarities." I said._

"_Like what?" Masaru asked._

"…_I'll tell you when I think of some." I laughed as I rubbed the back of my neck. They laughed, too._

"_What's your brother like?" Kiyoko asked._

"_Mmm… He's…" I started to think of the best way to describe him. "…very creative. He can create anything out of anything. He's really smart, though, he could say the most stupid things I had ever heard—though, it's really funny…"_

"_Is he your older brother or younger brother?" Yuki asked._

"_Obviously older." Masaru pointed out._

_"Ja, he is." I said to them._

"_He sounds like a nice man." Kiyoko said._

_"Ja, he is…though, when he joined the war, it surprised me…" I said._

"_Why?" They asked._

"_Because…he's really a gentle type…the type that's not really meant for war…" I said as I placed the picture down. "He's actually also a huge softy, always trying his best not try cry, and sometimes easily scared…he really is not the war type…"_

"_Are there really anyone meant for war; the war type?" Kiyoko began. "Because I don't think so…I think it's more if you're prepared for it or not, but honestly, I doubt anyone is able to handle any kind of battle."_

"_I think you're right… I never really thought about that myself." I said. "But every day I pray for his safety, hoping that he'll come home soon with nothing wrong."_

"_I'm sure he will." Kiyoko smiled kindly at me. "Just like how water can be gentle at times, it can be strong enough to shape earth."_

"_Yeah! I'm sure he'll be fine! Like Kiyoko said, softies can be stronger than others at time!" Yuki smiled happily, Masaru just gave a nod in agreement._

"_Heh, thanks you." I smiled._

"_Your life seems interesting compared to ours at the moment." Masaru stated._

"_If you guys feel that way, then maybe I can help make it more fun around here." I smiled at them._

"_Really, Jochen-san?" Yuki smiled with excitement. "It would really mean a lot!"_

"_Okay, I'll try my best to make our day's together fun." I smiled as I placed the pictures in the pocket that was inside my coat. "I'll see you both tomorrow."_

"_Sayonara, Jochen-san!" they gave a wave as I left._

"_How's everything working out for you, Jochen?" Aloisia asked as she handed me some files and documents._

"_Everything's working out fine. Hey, I heard that this place has a lot of twins here, is that true?" I asked._

"_Ja, it's true." Aloisia said. "There's actually one set of twins that are rather strange."_

"_What do you mean?" I asked._

"_Well, they're twins, a brother sister type twins. Yet, not only they look practically identical, but they're blond hair and blue eyes."_

"_Are they from around here?" I asked._

"_Well, that's the thing; they're purely Japanese with natural blue hair and eyes. Isn't that interesting?"_

"_Ja, ontop of that, you said they're practically identical! How often does that happen? Fraternal twins looking so identical, unless, you're over exaggerating."_

"_No no! I'm not!" She said. "But strange, isn't it?"_

"_Hey, why are there so many twins in this building, I mean, I don't work with any, but judging by hearing other's conversations, there's a lot." I said. "Why are we working with kids?"_

_Aloisia gave a blank smile and stare before answering. "It's best that you don't know right now…try not to know for the longest you can…"_

"_Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, confused._

"_It's nothing." She said. "…So, do you keep all of the files and documents in that one drawer?"_

"_Um, bottom drawer here," I placed my hand on the handle, "is the complete files and documents—since, after all, they're labeled 'Complete', the top drawer here," I placed my hand on the handle of the other drawer, "are the files and documents that people haven't finished, so they come here to get them, so they can continue their work in them. Why do you ask?"_

"_No reason." She smiled a bit, "But you're very organized."_

"_Heh heh, yeah, I myself have to be organized so I can find everything easily." I rubbed the back of my neck as I smiled. "You know…what do you do here?"_

"_Like, my job here?" I gave a nod, and then she smiled a bit. "I sort of help deliver messages, help out with the files and documents, the children, take part in watching some…experiments." For some reason, she hesitated for a moment when she mentioned about the experiments._

"_Aloisia, how come everyone doesn't want me to see the things taking place yet?" I asked._

"_Jochen…really…it's best that…you don't know." Aloisia said grimly. _

_I was confused, why is it best? Why does everyone want me to remain ignorant about it for a while? What are they trying to hide? Is it that they don't trust me? Is it something bad? I don't know…but, I still want to go see the experiments! I just can't wait! I'll prove myself that I can handle anything and I can be trusted!_

"_H-Hey, just don't worry about it." Aloisia smiled weakly. "You're time will come when you can go into the lab and see for yourself…"_

"_I hope soon." I smiled and laughed a bit, but she was just smiling weakly, almost sad like, staring at me like something was wrong. I may not know now, but I will find out what she's hiding eventually! She can't keep hiding it forever._

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><p>AN: I don't own anything I don't own except the things I do own so YUP!

Bob: ...Are you going to start going on about-

Weird Girl: SINCE INTERNATIONAL COOKIE DAY WAS FRIDAY, I'LL BE GIVING AWAY COOKIES OF ANYONE'S CHOICE IF THEY REVIEW!

Bob: I was right.

WG: Silent readers will get the worse treatment of all...NO COOKIES!

(Reminder: Ja=Ya)


	7. Chapter 7 Curiosity

Weird Girl: WHOOT! CHAPTER! CHAPTER! CHAPTER!

Bob: ...Yay?

WG: (creepy rage face)WITH MORE ENTHUSIASM!

Bob: O_o;; YAY!

WG: :'D

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><p><strong>Curiosity<strong>

"_How's the young fellow here doing?" Mr. Bayer asked. He came to check up on my work, to see if I'm doing everything well. We were standing outside of the building._

"_He is very good, Bayer-san!" Mr. Watahiro smiled. "He's such a quick learner! He'll definitely help contribute some great work here!"_

"_That's nice to here!" Mr. Bayer gave a loud chuckle as he patted my shoulder. "Did you hear that boy? You're doing a wonderful job here!" I smiled as I chuckled shyly, rubbing the back of my neck._

"_I'm sure he'll climb through the ranks here in no time," Mr. Watahiro stated with a smile, "especially since he's so excited about wanting to participate in observing the experiments going on here."_

"_Eeh, he still might be too young to handle that. He still might not be mature enough." Mr. Bayer said as he looked over at me._

"_Mr. Bayer, I would be gladly to participate in observing the experiments that are taking place here. If you both are afraid that I'm not mature enough, or might not be able to handle it for some reason, I'll prove myself that I can mature enough to handle anything about these experiments, sir, it would be really exciting to watch and learn how we're going to improve our world as we improve science, learn something new." I stated._

"_What an eager boy he is!" Mr. Bayer laughed. "With hard work, I'm sure you're going to be able to see what goes on in this building if you really wish to know!"_

"_I sure do hope so, sir!" I smiled._

"_Now, I'm going to be checking up on you every month to see your progress here. While I'm gone, like I said, Watahito-san will be watching you and your work progress." Mr. Bayer said._

"_I'll take good care of the boy." Mr. Wathito smiled._

_Mr. Bayer pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time. "Look at the time! It's time for me to go! I'm going to be late for a meeting! Well, see you next month!"_

"_Goodbye, Mr. Bayer." Mr. Watahito and I said as Mr. Bayer left._

"_Now, let's return to the building, shall we?" then he turned around, walking back to the building as I followed._

"_Jochen-san! What did they say?" Sakoro Mishofugi asked as he came walking over to me. Sakoro Mihsofugi was another friend of mine. He was in his early forty's, with black hair already turning grey and glasses that are placed low on the bridge of his nose. He almost looks like he's aging yet, not really…To me, something like that makes sense, but I guess not really._

"_They both said I'm doing a good job. If I keep this up, I might be able to see the experiments taking place here!" I smiled. "I hope it's going to observe the experiments taking place soon."_

"_Just continue working hard and you'll be watching in no time!" Mr. Mishofugi chuckled. "It's really interesting, the experiments and the process and everything, it really is—and, it's all for the good of science and to make the human race far much better!"_

"_That's what I heard, and that's why I'm excited. This is another reason why I would always be glad to help in any way possible!" I smiled._

"_This is why we're glad to have people like you on the team! Always wanting to help us improve science and help out humanity!" Mr. Mishofugi smiled. "And I can see why you're so eager to start observing, it gets boring to just study the human brain and just organize files and documents."_

"_Yeah, it does." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck._

"_Ah, I used to have that position once," He smiled, "but I found out a reason why! They have you study the human brain because they believe you have potential in helping out with experimenting…instead of just observing and taking notes on them!"_

"_Really?" I grinned in excitement._

"_Yes, which is why I have the job I have now! I actually help the process of experimenting. You see, they want to see how organize you are, and studying the human brain, is to get you ahead of knowing about the experimentations and how we're trying improve certain things, when you get to observe, it's like another study so you can get more information when experimenting, so you can get ideas."_

"_Really? I didn't know!"_

"_Yup! Now, you mustn't tell the others that I told you this, okay?" He smirked a bit. "It was meant to be some sort of surprise."_

"_Oh, right." I rubbed my neck as I smiled. "By the way, what kinds of experiments take place here? I mean, I know that we're trying to help humanity and help improve humanity and human abilities…but…what _exactly_ are we doing?"_

"_Well, if I tell you, then it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now would it?" He smiled._

"_R-Right!" I smiled shyly and rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry, yeah, I can wait."_

"_Don't worry, you'll fine soon enough." He smiled as he left._

_As I was organizing files and documents while studying the human brain, Vinzenz was talking to me._

"_What's the rush? You'll have plenty of time to observe the experiments! Take your time with all of this, this is a lot easier." He chuckled as he teased a bit._

"_You know I want to observe the experiments as quick as I can." I smirked at him a bit before continuing my work._

"_I know I know." He laughed._

"_Are the experiments as exciting as they sound?" I asked._

"_Yes they are!" He answered. "Especially knowing since this is all for a good cause—to improve humanity itself! Watching it all just gives you a thrilling feeling, a feeling like you're doing a good thing for the world!"_

"_Heh heh, I hope I get the feeling as soon as I can!" I laughed as I rubbed the back of my neck, then I thought for a moment. "Then…why does Aloisia seem unhappy—well, more like sad when everyone mentions the experiments?"_

"_What do you mean?" his smile dropped, wearing a straight face while a strong sense of seriousness showed in his eyes. "What do you mean?" he repeated._

_I didn't understand what was wrong. "It's just…whenever I asked about the experiments, how eager I am to observe them, she gets all quiet and stiff…like there's something wrong. I don't know why though, but she denies it…"_

"_Is that so…?" his voice darkened slightly, now standing up completely straight as he turned around. Why the sudden mood change?_

"_I-I guess…" I stuttered._

"_Is it true?" he asked in a more demanding voice._

"_Y-Yes, sir!" I quickly replied back, snapping straight up._

"_I see…" his voice sounded thoughtful._

"_I-Is there something wrong…Vinzenz?" I asked. He turned around at me and smiled._

"_Oh, don't worry about it!" he laughed, acting like his strange behavior never happened. "Just keep studying and working hard, you'll get to see the experiments in no time!" then he walked out the door._

_I wonder why Mr. Knauss seemed upset about what I stated. Why don't they tell me much about the job I am doing? I began to think, "Is it good to help work for something you don't know what it's for?" All I know is that it's good for humanity, to improve it…but, what kinds of experiments are they doing to see how they're going to improve it? Why so many children here—especially twins? I don't know…but I know I'm going to find out eventually. But until then, I shall continue working on the work I was given. But now that my curiosity has increased, the more tempted I was to look at the documents and files and read the information that I'm not allow to know…at least, not yet._

_As I continued down the hall over to the room where Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki stayed in, I began to wonder why they weren't allowed to leave the room—why aren't any of the kids here allowed to leave their rooms? Exactly how many children are here? What kinds of experiments are we doing to help find ways to improve humanity? Are they somehow connected? I don't know; all I know is that I was going to find out eventually._

"_Hello, Jochen-san!" the kids greeted me as I entered the room._

"_Hello, everyone." I smiled as I greeted back._

"_We made sure to hide the toys this time! Just like you said!" Yuki smiled as she whispered it to me._

"_That's very good." I chuckled a bit._

"_I'm glad that we didn't get our stuff taken away again." Masaru stated._

"_Uh huh!" Yuki agreed._

"_So, how are you all?" I asked._

"_Good!" Yuki replied._

"_Fine." Masaru replied also._

_I looked around the room a bit. Was she taken out of the room? "Hey, where's Kiyoko?"_

"_She's in the closet." Yuki pointed over to the pretty decent size closet with the sliding door._

"_What is she doing in there?" I asked._

"_Who knows?" Masaru asked. "It's her time."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Whether we want to do something or not, we all take turns just staying in the closet by ourselves." Yuki stated._

"_Why do you guys do that?" _

"_I don't know about you, but being cooped up in this one, not being able to leave," Masaru began, "you don't have any privacy. Sometimes just being alone is nice."_

"_Yeah, we can't even leave the room so we can go potty!" Yuki stated._

"_Th-Then what do you guys do when you have to go?" I asked, already disgusted before hearing the answer._

"_We use a bucket." Masaru answered. "At the end of each day, a person comes to get it and gives us a new clean bucket. We bring the bucket with us to the closet when we need to go"_

_I resisted a gag. "Why don't they just let you guys leave this room to use the rest rooms?" I asked. They just gave a shrug. "Now that I think of it…what do you guys do when you get hungry?"_

"_We have to wait until someone comes and brings us food. Morning, before you come, and dusk, after you left."_

"_What do you do in between?" I asked._

"_We only have to wait, whether if we get hungry or not. Sometimes we get filled, sometimes we don't."_

_The next thing I know, I saw Kiyoko stumbling out of the closet, then looked at Yuki and Masaru, "Why didn't you tell me he's here?" she asked in a harsh whisper._

"…_The door isn't thick at all…how come you didn't know?" Masaru gave a look._

"_I-I feel asleep…" she blushed. Yuki gave a giggle._

"_Besides, why do you care if he's here or not?" he asked. I saw her give him a secret pinch, telling him to silence. I covered my smile with my hand and cleared my throat._

"_H-Hello, Jochen-san." Kiyoko bowed in greeting. "I hope your day has been fine so far."_

"_Yeah, it has—a bit confusing," I thought out loud, "but pretty good."_

"_Ah, I see." She smiled. I noticed she styled her hair with the comb I had bought her._

"_What are you confused about?" Yuki asked._

"_I-It's nothing." I stated. The thing I had learned while working here was that I wasn't allowed to tell I was pretty much a scientist in training, that this place is an orphanage and we're their care takers—their 'friends'. But to me…I really feel like I'm their friend, and that they're mine._

"_Are you sure?" Masaru asked, though, honestly not caring as he got out his tops and began to play with them._

"_Ya, I am." I responded._

"_Jochen-san, are there other kids in this building?" Yuki asked._

"_Of course there are, why do you ask?" I asked._

"_Well, we never seen them or interacted with them…again, we're not allowed to leave this building." Yuki stated._

"_It would be nice to know that they're girls close to my age," Kiyoko stated with a soft smile, "if not my age, then close enough."_

"_Or if there are any other boys here!" Masaru stated. "I swear, if this place only has girls and I'm the only guy, I'm going to lose it!"_

"_But you love us though, right Masaru?" Yuki asked. His only response was spinning a top as fast and hard as he could towards her, so it can hit her as he laughed. Yuki jumped back as she stuck her tongue out at him._

"_I hope there are little girls my age then!" Yuki crossed her arms as she turned her back on Masaru. "Boys are stupid and apparently I'm too young to understand certain young lady things!"_

"_I'm sure you're going to meet them one day." I smiled at them, sitting down as I pulled out my journal—the journal I was told to write everyday events I have with these kids and everything._

"_You're always writing," Yuki pouted._

"_Ya, it's for work." I said as I continued. I looked back up and saw Kiyoko staring at the window. "What are you thinking about?"_

"_What's the sky like today…what's it like outside." She responded very softly, very peacefully. "I wish I can see the sky out there once more."_

_I stayed quiet for a minute and began thinking. "Maybe someday you will." I smiled a bit. They all looked at me, and gave me a small smile back._

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><p>AN: I do not own vocaloid or any of that kinds of stuff-except for the things I own!

Weird Girl: LOVELY CHAPTER! ISN'T IT?

Bob: ...In a _bucket_? That's gross...

Weird Girl: LIFE HAPPENS!

Bob: ...(stare)

WG: ...ANYWAYS! REVIEWS WILL GET A LAVA LAMP! TROLLS WILL GET BROKEN LAVA LAMPS! SILENT READERS WILL _BECOME_ LAVA LAMPS! :D

Bob: ...What the heck are trolls?

WG: Apparently people who flame for no apparent reason! :D Heh heh...Trolls makes me think of fairy tales...(insert heart here)

Bob: ...Okay then...


	8. Chapter 8 Uninformed

Weird Girl: YAY! I UPDATED! AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME? :D

Bob: No.

WG: D:

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><p><strong>Uninformed<strong>

"_Why can't the children leave the room?" I asked Mr. Watahito a week later. I was too nervous to ask any other day until now. "Why can't they go outside? Interact with other kids and get sunshine?"_

"_Ah! What very good questions!" he smiled as he chuckled, but continued to walk down the hall. I continued to fallow._

"_Aren't you going to answer my question?" I asked._

"_Maybe later." He said. What I learned from the Japanese culture was that it was consider rude to tell someone "no", so this was one of the ways to say "no" without flat out saying it._

"_No, right now-erm, please." He abruptly stopped and turned to me._

"_Jochen-san, please don't test me." He smiled, "But if you really want to know, it's because the children here…they're very weak, they don't have really good immune systems."_

"_If that's true, then why do you allow them to _go_ in a bucket? Isn't that unsanitary?" I asked. "They can get easily sick from that if it's true."_

_All he did was give me a smile before continuing on his way through double doors that lead to the lab—one of the places I wasn't able to enter…at least, not yet. I gave a sigh of defeat, knowing he wasn't going to tell me anything._

"_You'll learn that's his way of saying he doesn't want them contaminated…" I heard a feminine voice coming behind me. I whirled around and saw Aloisia. The next thing I knew, Aloisia began to walk at a fast pace. I quickly followed her._

"_What do you mean?" I asked. She gave no reply. "Please, tell me what I don't know!"_

"_I-I just can't…" she solemnly stated. "I just can't." I continued to follower her until she went to a door that was in dim lit room._

"_Why can't you tell me anything? How come no one will tell me anything about what's going on?" I asked once more._

"_I just can't, Jochen… I just can't…" Aloisia said once more. Her voice got really low. "But, Jochen, listen to this…be careful…don't do anything stupid…and its best that you don't know anything." Before I could ask any more questions, she quickly went through the door and closed it._

_I walked back to my office and sat down in my chair, reading books about humanity. Why are they keeping me in the dark about everything? What exactly is the point of learning all of this? Why are we working with children? What kind of experiments are they doing here? I looked over at the drawer that contained the files and documents that other scientist created about the experiments that are taking place here. I know I shouldn't be reading them…but…should I take just a peak? Just to know what's going on here? I reached over to the drawer and slowly pulled it opened._

"_Ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Vincent stated. I quickly slammed it shut and almost fell out of my chair in surprise. He gave a chuckle._

"_S-Sorry, I almost gave in to curiosity." I quickly apologized as I rubbed the back of my neck._

"_Eh, it's fine." He coolly stated, making me ease up a bit. "I almost did the same thing when I was your rank. But, strong will broke my curiosity and I quickly moved up the ranks. Just think about your goal, about getting to work with the experiments."_

"_But…that's the thing." I began. "How will I know if I will really want to reach my goal if I don't even know what I'm aiming for? Like, what kind of experiments are we doing here?"_

"_Ones to help improve humanity of course, we already told you that." He simply replied with casualness._

"_But, _how_ are we going to experiment? What are we going to experiment on? Why so many children here in this building? What _kinds_ of experiments? Vincent, how come everyone is leaving me in the dark about what's going on?"_

_He gave a light chuckle. "Again, I used to be in your position. I was left in the dark, too, but later on I learned what _exactly_ we were doing here. Don't worry, trust me, it'll be exciting for you. Who knows? Maybe you'll discover something and will be remembered throughout history."_

_Remembered throughout history…those words were enough to put me in a shy excitement at the thought; enough to cure my curiosity. How wonderful that would be! I'll be famous even after my life time—I mean, after all, this is for the sake of greatly improving humanity, to greatly improve our world and future! How would I be forgotten for that?_

_Vincent gave a chuckle; placing a file in the correct folder for me as he gave a pat on the shoulder. "You're a smart boy, trust me, you'll climb the ladder in no time."_

"_I really do hope so." I smiled, rubbing the back of my neck once more._

"_Well, I'll be off now." Vincent smiled before leaving._

_I began to pull out three books, and began reading them all at once. The idea of becoming famous stuck well in my head ever since Vincent told me about the idea, and now, I was working as hard as I can so I can climb up the ladder fast. If I'm truly as smart as everyone says, it won't take a while, right?_

* * *

><p>AN: I only own what I own, So go away suers and your suitcases of stuff! ^-^d

Bob: ...

WG: ...I couldn't think of anything well for the A/N, OKAY?

Bob: ...I was actually notice how short the chapter was...

WG: Oh...Well, at least it's not as short as the very first one, right?

Bob: Wasn't it meant to be like that?

WG: ...Well, yes, but...

Bob: Then it doesn't count.

WG: ...(sigh)


	9. Chapter 9 Sick

WG: WHOOT ANOTHER CHAPTER!

Bob: (opens mouth)

WG: SHH~! IT'S STARTING! (noms on popcorn)

Bob: ...But you wrote it and it's not even a movie-

WG: SHHH! (angry face)

Bob: = =

* * *

><p><strong>Sick<strong>

"OH OH OH! Your great grandmother knew the children? Cool!" I cheerfully stated through the phone, though, inside, my heart actually dropped and my stomach twisted. This happened before? What does this mean? How many people had died? How come his great grandmother and Yori were accepted? What does this all mean?

""Itsuki? You're there?" Yori's voice came through the phone.

"Yup!" I replied cheerfully.

"What are you guys doing anyways?" Yori asked.

"I'm trying to explain the concept to Itsuki that there is no such thing as extra medium sodas." Mayu answered. Yori snickered. Another way to hide who and what I really am. Mayu and I were in the park as we were talking, before Yori called.

"It's not funny! There could be an extra medium!" I protested in my false, yet, convincing whiny tone.

"There is no extra medium! It's small, medium, large, or extra-large! Got it?" Mayu said in a vexed tone.

"But if there is an extra-large... then there can be an extra medium, right?" I made a tone of confusion. I was laughing in my head. I can have fun with this, too.

"BAKA!" she yelled at me, irritated.

"Well, I got to go," Yori then whispered, "Good luck." Then he hung up.

Mayu looked at me as she shook her head. "Why do you have to act so stupid?"

I choked a bit. "Act?"

"Well, you can be stupid, but can't you try your best to hide it." Mayu replied, though, it seemed that she caught my surprise response.

I gave a mental sigh of relief and caught myself. I made a sad face and a pouty voice, "But why would I do that?"

Mayu gave another sigh. "Itsuki…" She was off my back and I was relieved. I should pay more close attention and try not to assume things.

"What's up with you? You seem tense lately—well, ever since _that day_…" Mayu stated.

It was true, I had been. Why wouldn't I be? I had all the reasons to be tense. "It's nothing!" I smiled happily.

Mayu just stared at me as she pulled out a hamburger and began eating. "Why do I have a feeling you lie a lot…" she muttered as she chewed.

Though, I knew she meant to say it without me hearing it, but indeed I did hear that. It made my heart jump once more, trying my best not to show it. "Hey, what time is it?"

Mayu looked at her wrist. "…I forgot I didn't even set this watch yet."

I gave a mental sweat drop and got up. "Well, I better be going home now, I remembered my mom wanted me to go on some errands with her! Bye-bye!" I got off and quickly left—running like a child until I was out of her sight.

"At least I didn't lie about that part…" I muttered to myself as I continued to walk. Why would I tell the truth about everything? For people to think wrong of me? To judge me? Hate me? To freak them out? For everyone to think I'm crazy? I would rather not, I ran into things like that long ago.

I met up with my mom and we went to the grocery store—I came along only because she would always need help with carrying the bags, she was never strong as long as I could remember.

"Do you think I should buy leeks or buy another bottle of soy sauce?" Mother asked.

"I think leeks…we have a load of soy sauce, Mom." I laughed. For some reason, she _loves_ soy sauce. She puts it on _everything_. I honestly don't like soy sauce…it's just not for my taste, but if I told her that, her heart will "break", so I just put it on my food anyways-which, I later learned that just made her buy _more_ soy sauce. I think I'll break the news to her later…someday…eventually.

"True. True." Mother gave a nod as she placed the leeks in the basket and continued walking around the store. I followed her. She continued picking out fruits, vegetables, and other foods. I suddenly got a strong sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. We bought the groceries and I carried the bags out and to the car.

"Itsuki…are you feeling alright?" Mother asked with great concerned as she placed the last of the groceries in the trunk.

"What do you mean?" I asked. But I felt sick…like I wanted to vomit—not exactly though, like I wanted to spit up my heart or lung.

"You're _really_ pale…Itsuki, do you need to lie down?" the feeling of concern grew great in her voice. I didn't answer and began to feel the ground move. I collapsed to my knees and covered my ears, because I could hear their voices. I began to see those memories…the memories I want to forget began flashing in front of my eyes. I tightly shut my eyes, as if that would make them stop—but that didn't work.

"Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop…" I slowly began muttering silently.

"Itsuki! Itsuki! Tell me! Tell me what's wrong!" Mother placed her hands on my shoulders, gently shaking me as if that would break my trance, but it didn't work. Fear showed in her voice.

"Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!" I repeated, though, it wasn't like my mother couldn't be able to do anything. Other people came by to check on me, but I could only see the images and hear the voices.

"PLEASE! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!" I cried. "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP—!" Then it completely stopped.

I slowly uncovered my ears and opened my eyes and saw I was surrounded by people and my mom was red eyed with tears, brushing my hair out of my eyes now.

"O-Oh…" I forced a small smile and rubbed the back of my neck. "I'm sorry about that!" I quickly stumbled to my feet and into the car.

Mother came in quickly right after. "Itsuki! Ituski! Are you alright? What happened? Should we take you to the hospital-"

"No." I quickly stated. "Just…take me home."

Mother tried to get some answers from me, asking how was I feeling and everything, but she stopped when she finally realized I wasn't going to speak or reply except when she would try to make a turn to the hospital, and I would just say, "Please don't…"

We finally arrived home and we carried the groceries in and I placed the ones I carried on the table. When Mother placed the ones she carried in down, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug.

"Love you, Mother… Sorry for scaring you…" I stated then started heading up stairs to my room. "I'm going to rest…"

I lay down on my bed as I stared blankly up at the ceiling. I was so tired…I didn't want to close my eyes. I didn't want to start dreaming of his memories-of my memories that will keep repeating and repeating, to when the story ended, it will just repeat again. I didn't want to sleep. I stared up at the ceiling until I got a call. It was nearly midnight.

I answered it, "Moshi? Moshi?" I was too tired to put on my false cheerful tone. I wasn't in the mood anyways.

"Hey, Itsuki? It's Yori—um, are you feeling alright? You sound down…" Yori stated.

"No no, I'm fine." I stated, lying. "Just…tired, that's all."

"I…see…"

"Why are you calling? Something happened?"

"Well…yes, two things."

"What?"

"Well…I didn't want to tell Mayu or else she would worry. Well, I was freaked scared and had to run out of...this place where there were two immortal spirits in this room-since one tried to kill me, the other one helped me escape. As I was running out I accidently went down the wrong hallway and into another room. Where I found three kids-er…well. This teenager, she was an immortal girl like the children I visit, except more hateful…the other two-a boy and a little girl-were like…immortal ghosts… They were standing in the back glaring at me as they watched the girl choke me. You see, she just ran up to me and choked me for no reason, they all looked angry and miserable and—"

"Yori…" I choked. "What did they look like…?"

"The teenager…she had pink-blue hair with silvery eyes and wore a light purple kimono, she had cuts all over her arms…um, the boy, he had really black eyes and scarlet red hair and a grey shirt and pants, he had a red scar on his cheek…the little girl had black pigtails with a red kimono and chocolate eyes, she had a red slit across her throat…why do you ask—?"

I instantly hung up without saying good bye, without hearing the rest of his story and the other thing he wanted to tell me. I threw the phone down and looked up at the ceiling once more. I continued to space out as I forced myself to try not to sleep. But, I could feel warm tears forming down my cheeks. "It's all my fault…" I whispered.

* * *

><p>AN: I don't own anything I dont own and I own what I own. HAPPY?

Bob: ...Well, at least it's longer than the last one.

WG: ;3; I'M SORRRY~!

Bob: Reviews for better chapters and silent readers will...

WG: BOB SHALL STALK YOU IN YOUR SLEEP! :D

Bob: ...What?


	10. Chapter 10 Outside

Weird Girl: WHOOT WHOOT! UPDATED! WHOOT WHOOT!

Bob: (reading note card) Now lets continued with this paid program-wait...this isn't a paid programming...

* * *

><p><strong>Outside<strong>

I kept telling myself that it couldn't be them…that it could be a different room… different people…I just denied it all. I resisted a yawn. I didn't want to sleep. I just didn't want to. But, my eyes kept growing heavier and heavier. But, soon, I gave in and began to dream.

.

.

_It's been six months now, late fall, and everything has been the same. At the end of every month, Mr. Bayer comes to check up on my work, Mr. Watahito would reply saying, "He's doing great!" and "He's a fast learner!", though, they do say that I'm getting closer and closer to being able to watch the experimentations take place. I continue to work hard as I enjoy spending time with the group I was assigned to, though, still making records of what I did with them—minus the toys…and that I'm bonding with them. It can't really be that bad to bond with them, can it?_

_I made friends with many of the scientists here, and I believe I'm finally getting some of their respect. I guess the closest friends there are Vincent, Aloisia, Mr. Watahito, and sometimes Mr. Mishofugi—I learn a lot more of Japanese culture through Mr. Mishofugi, and I tell him about my culture. Though, I noticed that Aloisia has been down lately, and that it gets worse each day. She hides it in front of her husband though…seems like Vincent doesn't notice it. But I guess it's nothing._

"_Hey, Jochen!" I turned around and saw Aloisia and Vinzen. "Happy birthday!"_

"_How did you guys-?"_

"_Mr. Watahito and Mr. Bayer told us." Vincent simply answered. Aloisia placed a black forest cupcake with the one cherry stem sticking perfectly straight up, lit as if it was the wick of a candle._

"_Blow it out." Aloisia smiled._

_I leaned forward a bit, blew out the "candle", then placed the cherry aside, since I would always like to save the cherry last. "Where did you get the cherry for this?"_

"_Mm, don't worry about it, but it was hard though." Aloisia stated._

_I began to eat the cupcake when Vinzen asked, "Why haven't you added some of the things you like to your study yet?"_

"_Well, it's just an office…and I'm sure other people come in here and use it when I'm not occupying it." I replied._

"_No, no, no, no." Vinzen shook his head. "This is _your_ study, _your_ own room. You can even bring in a little cot and put in the corner, spend the night here if you want. This is like your own little room."_

"_Really?"_

"_I'm surprised you didn't even know this, and you've been here for six months." Aloisia stated._

"_Well, eheh heh…" I rubbed the back of my neck as I finished my cupcake. "But wouldn't that be weird?"_

"_Actually…a lot of people do it here." Aloisia replied._

"_It's easier to wake up, get ready, and go straight to work right when you wake up. You get a lot of work done that way." Vinzenz stated._

"_If you want to try it out, you can go to the supply closet, take a rolled up bed, pillow, and some spare uniform and pajamas if you want, they have a couple stacks there." Aloisia said._

"_Huh…maybe I should try it tonight." I chuckled._

"_Oh! Almost forgot!" Vinzenz pulled out his hand from behind his back and placed down an envelope in front of me._

"_Huh?" I picked it up and read who it was from. I began to smile, "It's from my brother!"_

"_Yes, Mr. Bayer said it came in your mail and said to give it to you—."_

"_What? Mr. Bayer looked through my mail?" I stared up at them._

"_Well, yeah…long story for a reason behind that." Aloisia stated, though, it was her way of saying she can't tell me._

_I just shrugged it off and looked at my watch, "Oh, I have to go now!"_

"_Well, have a happy birthday, Jochen." They said as I walked out the door. I went on my way to visit Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki. When I arrived, they greeted me like usual._

"_What's that?" Yuki pointed to my letter, her sleeve practically covering her entire hand._

"_Oh, this is from my brother, he sent me a letter." I replied._

"_What does it say?"_

"_Let's see…" I sat down and began to open the letter._

"_I want to see!" Masaru came over._

"_Even if you do see, you won't be able to read it, it will be in their language." Kiyoko pointed out as she giggled._

_I smiled as I began to read, "It says, 'Dear Little Brother, I'm proud of you for helping out our country and trying to help the world for the greater good in a different way than mine. I hope you're doing well and enjoy your new job. I see why you're confused, little brother, about why they don't tell you much…I would be too if I were in your position. But I do hope it's going to be all well for you. I wish I can say the same for me._

_Brother, we're about to invaded France, and I'm scared—no, worried that we're going to get into a battle—well, of course since we had them before, but a larger one than expected. I don't think I'm prepared as they say we are, or that they're truly unprepared as they say they are. If we do enter a great battle, then I am going to be scared through all of it, but I am going to be strong at the same time. But, to show you how we're doing, and to show you the new friends I told you about in the last letter, I sent you a photo. The one on my left is Fester, and the one on my right is Evert. _

_Sincerely, Erich'"_

_I pulled out the photo from the envelope and unfolded it. The on the left, Fester, looked like a strong man, very large. The look in his eyes said that he wasn't afraid of anything, that he wasn't afraid to die. Evert, was a very lean looking man, very nicely looking, like he was a wealthy man before he went to war. My brother was in between them. I was worried for him, the look in his eyes said that he was terrified, but I know he was trying to be strong._

_I read the bottom of the letter before laughing a bit._

"_What are you laughing about?" Yuki asked._

"_It says, 'P.S, Brother, Fester wanted me to tell you that he said when are you going to be a man and find a woman already? Evert says ignore him. Don't they lighten up the mood? Oh, and happy birthday, little brother.'"_

_Masaru and Yuki joined me in laughing._

"_Wait, it's your birthday?" Kiyoko asked._

"_Oh, why, yes, yes it is." I replied. "His letter came on time."_

"_How old are you know?" Yuki asked with excitement._

"_Eighteen." I replied._

"_I hope the weather is nice for your birthday," Kiyoko said. "just in case you're going out somewhere special."_

"_Actually, the weather is nice, but, I'm not doing anything special." I stated._

"_Why not?" Masaru asked._

"_Well…I'm going to be working and…I'm not really anywhere near family, I don't know much of Japan…and I'm going to have many other birthdays, so it's fine not celebrating this one."_

"_But it's your _birthday_!" Yuki whined. "You _have_ to do something special!"_

_I began to think, then grinned. "Well…" I whispered, "I'll come here at night, and so we all can do something together."_

"_What kind of something?" Kiyoko asked._

"_It's a surprise…but you have to keep quiet about this, and just be ready and everything…It's going to be really late by the time I come get you three."_

"_Okay." They smiled. "But isn't it your birthday?"_

_I only gave a shrug and smile. "I spend it how I want to spend it, it's _my_ birthday."_

_They just gave a giggle._

_I left the room a few minutes later. I went to the supply closet Aloisia told me about, grabbed a rolled up seeming bed item, a pillow, blankets, and went to my study—room…whatever it was and set up my bed and slept…only for a little bit._

_When it was exactly midnight, I got out of the bed that lay on the floor and quietly went out the door. There was nobody around, and if they were, they were in a room busy. I quietly went to Kiyoko's, Masaru's, and Yuki's room, silently closing the door behind me. I quietly went beside them, seeing how they were all laying in their beds._

_I shook each of them gently. "Hey, come on, wake up. It's time."_

_They all, one by one, sat up and rubbed their eyes. Yuki said, "I didn't know it would be _this_ late."_

"_Yeah, I'm sorry, but I have to make sure nobody will catch us." I stated._

"_Catch us what?" Masaru asked. _

"_I'm going to take you guys outside." I stated._

_Now they were fully awake._

"_O-Outside?" Kiyoko was wide eyed. "But wouldn't you get in great trouble? Especially since you're trying to aim for that special rank?"_

"_Not if I'm not caught…besides, you three need to live more, and that's worth more thank the rank I want to get."_

"_But…you've been working so hard." Masaru said. "I mean, we _really_ want to go outside…but, is it really worth the risk?"_

_I paused for a moment, then gave a nod. "Now, stay really quiet and—." I looked down at their feet. They wore no shoes. "Do you have any shoes?"_

_They shook their heads._

"_But we don't care." Masaru replied. "We rather walk on anything if we're actually going outside."_

_I gave a small smile, opened the door, and had them walk out. I kept them close to me as I lead the way out, trying our best not to make a peep. We slowly opened the front doors and went right out. Their eyes went directly to the trees that had leaves of orange, gold, red, and brown. The moon shone with enough light to let us see almost everything in the dark. There was a bit of a breeze and a cold chill filled the air. _

_Yuki darted everywhere, gathering leaves and started piling them up in a spot before jumping into them, then repeating. Masaru was gathering the leaves, only stick them in his shirt and pants, most likely hoping he could bring some inside and hide them in their room. Kiyoko took out her comb and stood in the moon light, spinning around as she smiled._

"_Now, don't try to be too loud, or else others will hear you." I stated. "And, don't try to run off or anything, this is a big forest after all…trust me, even I get lost sometimes."_

"_Okay, Jochen!" Yuki smiled at me as she continued to play in the leaves. I noticed that she didn't use any honorific. I forgot what that means, so I shrugged it off._

"_Hey, Jochen, how old are you now?" Masaru asked._

"_Eighteen." I responded._

"_Ah, so you're two years older than me then?" Kiyoko asked._

"_Oh, that's right, you're sixteen." I said. "Yeah, seems like it."_

"_I'm eight!" Yuki smiled. "And Masaru's thirteen!"_

"_Of course he knows that!" Masaru stated to Yuki. "He asked us how old we were when we first met!"_

"_Oh yeah…I forgot." Yuki stated, tossing a handful of leaves up in the air._

"_Oh, how I missed the moon," Kiyoko stated as she stared up at the sky. "and the stars."_

"_I wish they had given us a room with a bigger window at least." Yuki stated._

"_Yeah…if not, give us a bigger room!" Masaru forced a laugh. "But I like it better out here…outside."_

"_I agree." Kiyoko said, then she turned to me. "Thank you, Jochen, for bringing us out here."_

_Y-You're welcome, but this is a little gesture, so it's nothing." I said._

"_It's not a little gesture to us, Jochen." Kiyoko smiled gently._

_At that moment, looking at her in the moon light as the leaves fell from the trees, I felt something different about Kiyoko, but I didn't know what. She just seemed…different to me, or was it that she was always like this and I just began to notice? Or was it that I'm beginning to feel different towards her? I just didn't know what it was, or what the feeling was, so I just tried to shake it off, but it kept bugging me._

_Kiyoko blushed a bit, "Is there something wrong?"_

"_Huh?" I hadn't realized I was staring at her. I rubbed the back of my neck as I looked away. "O-Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it." I stated._

_Yuki gave a yawn as she rubbed her eyes. I went over to her and picked her up, "Let's head back inside."_

"_Already?" Masaru looked at me with big eyes._

"_Don't worry…it's not like this is your last time you'll be out here." I gave a smile to them. "Now, let's go back inside."_

_As we went back inside, I made sure they stood close to me and that Masaru didn't drop a trail of leaves, still wanting to bring a couple with him. I tucked Yuki in her bed, realizing that she had already fallen asleep in my arms. Masaru and Kiyoko sat in their beds._

"_Good night." We said to each other before I left._

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><p>AN: I do not own anything I dont own, and I own what I do own...WHOOT FOR SIMPLNESS!

Bob: ...(Reading note cards) Cookies will be rewards for those who review, silent readers will be locked up in a room full of silence and no sound, and trolls/flamers will get to eat hot fiery hot-sauce.

Weird Girl: THAT'S RIGHT! So yes, please review~ :3


	11. Chapter 11 Promise

Weird Girl: I UPDATED! :D YAAAAAY! AREN'T YOU HAPPY?

Bob: Why?

Weird Girl: ...Know what? :L Shut up, Bob.

A/N: I only own what I won.

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><p><strong>Promise<strong>

_I just stared the book instead of actually studying, sitting in my chair at my desk. I was too distracted to do any work, the documents and files were piling up a bit. I was curious, wondering what I was feeling towards Kiyoko, what was so different? I drummed my pencil on the desk as I continued to think._

"_Is something bothering you?" Vinzenz asked. "There are these files and documents piling up here and you seem to be distracted._

"_Oh! Um, sorry! I am a little." I stated, rubbing the back of my neck, then I quickly placed all the files in their correct places._

"_What's on your mind?" Vinzenz asked._

"_Oh, well, um…" What was I going to say? I can't tell him about how I'm bonding with the group I was assigned to. I would only get in trouble. Besides…I also can't tell him about how I'm feeling—well, trying to figure out how I'm feeling towards Kiyoko. "It's just…the floor gave me a sore back." I laughed._

"_Oh, yeah, these floors are really hard." Vinzenz chuckled. "But if you do it often as some of us here, you get used to it."_

"_Oh, well I do hope so." I chuckled a bit. "Um, is there anything you need?"_

"_Oh, right." He then grinned at me. "Mr. Watahiro said he was thinking about letting you observe an experiment taking place _really_ soon…maybe even next week."_

"_Really?" I barely jumped out of my seat in excitement. "Don't go lying to me, Vinzenz."_

"_Hahah, it's true." Vinzenz said with a nod. "Work extra hard, the sooner you'll get to see."_

"_Right!" I laughed. "Oh…Vinzenz…how's Aloisia?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Is she…doing fine? She's been a bit down lately…don't you think?" I asked._

_His smile dropped. "She's doing fine." He state stiffly. "Stop worrying about her."_

"_Y-Yes, sir." I replied. The way he said it…was really serious…like he wanted me to keep quiet about. I didn't understand why. What was so wrong with asking if she's doing fine? Shouldn't he be worried himself that his wife seemed…well, depressed._

_Each day, Aloisia speaks less and less. She slowly stops smiling, she's had become more silent. She is even slowly isolating herself from everyone else. I'm worried for her. She's completely different than how she was when I first met her._

_Vinzenz coldly left the room. I began to wonder what was wrong with Vinzenz…why he was so serious about this. Did this have to do with the work? How everything has to function around here? Or was it something more? Once again, I was left in the dark, but according to Vinzenz, I will soon know the truth about everything…I must continue to work harder._

_I finished up my work and went on my way to the room._

"_Here's a book that you can press the leaves in." I said as I handed a book to Masaru._

"_Thank you!" He said as he accepted the book. He went to the closet where there was a small pile of leaves and began to place all the leaves he could in between each page. He started laughing a bit. "I think this is going to take a while…Yuki, can you help me?"_

"_Okay!" Yuki went over and started helping out Masaru._

"_So, how's your day so far?" I asked, not realizing that I was staring at Kiyoko again._

"_Same as usual." Kiyoko stated, noticing my stares. I quickly looked away._

"_Is there anything new with you?" Masaru asked._

"_Well, I might be getting a promotion." I smiled at them._

"_Really?" Yuki asked._

"_Yes, my boss even said so. I just need to continue working harder. I'm really close, you know." _

"_Well, I'm glad for you!" Kiyoko stated with a smile._

"_Hah hah." I rubbed the back of my neck._

"_What kind of work will be you be doing when promoted?" Masaru asked._

_I paused for a moment. "I…I don't know…"_

"_You don't know?"_

"…_I…I don't know."_

"_What kind of job do you have where they don't let you know what you're going to be working for?"_

"…"

_They all stared at me._

"_Hah hah…! Don't worry about it! I'm sure it'll be fine!" I smiled cheerfully, but honestly…I wasn't so sure. But why?_

"_Your job is so weird." Yuki stated. I laughed a bit._

"_It is, isn't?" I laughed._

"_By the way…the people here…they tell us they're our care takers…but, they all look so weird." Yuki stated._

"_Who are they really?" Masaru asked._

_I remember that I wasn't allowed to say anything…anything about us, all of us being scientist. "They're just care takers…"_

_They all stared at me, like they didn't believe me. Though, they didn't say anything back._

"_Wait…do you here that?" Kiyoko asked. We all went in silence and listened. We heard little steps growing louder and louder. "Someone's coming!"_

_We all scattered. I went over to Yuki and Masaru and helped them throw the small pile of leaves back in the closet along with the tops and dolls. I took the book and placed it in my white coat. Kiyoko quickly took the comb out of her hair which made some of her hair fall out of place and placed the comb within her kimono._

_The door opened and we quickly settled down. It was Mr. Watahiro. "Hello." He greeted._

"_Hello, Watahiro-san." I greeted back._

"_Hello." Yuki gave a small wave._

"_Jochen-san, may I speak with you?" He gesture out the door._

"_A-Ah! Yes!" I walked over to him, then out the door._

_He had me walk down the hall, making sure we weren't near the door, so none of the kids in each room could hear us._

"_What is it, Watahiro-san?" I asked._

"_I was thinking…by the end of this month—next week, you'll get to observe the experiments taking place here." Mr. Watahiro smiled._

"_R-Really?"_

"_Yes, it's true." He said. "Now, you must prepare well and hard before you get to observe."_

"_I'm going to! But…exactly how must I prepare?" I asked._

_He paused. "You need to continue to study…really hard. Also…mentally, prepared—just because there's a lot of pressure, there mustn't be any errors."_

"_Right!" I said. Then I bowed in thanks, "Thank you, Watahiro-san! Thank you!"_

"_Ha hah, well, that will be all." Mr. Watahiro stated. "You may continue with your work."_

_I went back to the room with excitement. They all noticed it._

"_What happened?" Kiyoko asked._

"_It's confirmed! I'll be—promoted next week!" I informed._

"_That's good!" Kiyoko smiled. "I'm very glad for you, Jochen."_

"_What will you be doing now, Jochen?" Yuki asked as she walked over to me._

"…_I'm…not exactly sure." I replied, somewhat lying. "But I'll be working in a new field."_

"_Does that mean you'll stop being our—caretaker?" Masaru asked._

_I paused. I never really thought about it. The three of them stared at me with big eyes. "I-I'm sure I'll still be able to come and see you still."_

"_I don't want you to leave us!" Yuki ran over to me and hugged me, starting to tear up._

_I smiled a bit, then went down to her level. "Don't worry, Yuki, I'm positive that I'm not going to leave…promise. Now, don't start tearing up, please, there's nothing to cry over."_

_Yuki gave a nod as she started to suppress any tears and began rubbing her eyes as though that would also help. I began to think, did I just gave her a false promise? I didn't know…but I can't ask anyone around, then that would show I created a bond with them…_

"_I really do hope that's true." Kiyoko stated._

"_If not, then I'll make it true." I said as I looked over at Kiyoko, smiling. _

_Though, I noticed out of them all, Kiyoko looked the most sad at that thought—though, Yuki was about to cry, Kiyoko's sadness…was almost a different kind, I suppose… Why was everything about Kiyoko starting to…feel different? What was so different? I began thinking about my feelings towards her…but, I still didn't know what they were. What _am_ I feeling? I wish to know. But then, I started to think, what does Kiyoko feel towards me? I wonder how she feels towards me…wait, why am I curious about this? That shouldn't matter at all! I caught myself staring at Kiyoko once more, then quickly—no…it was more like I had to force myself to look away. What's so wrong with me? Do I need more sleep? I didn't know._

"_You promise?" Masaru asked._

"…_Yes," I finally said, turning to him with a smile. "I promise."_

* * *

><p>AN: DUN DUUUN DUUUN~!

Bob: ...Okay then.

Weird Girl: ...What?

Bob: ...Okay then?

Weird Girl:... b=w=d S'mores!

Bob: (sweat drop)


	12. Chapter 12 Promotion

Weird Girl: He's chapter twelve! I hope you like! :D

Bob: A bit of violence is in this chapter.

Weird Girl: WHOOT FOR VIOLENCE!

Bob: . . .

* * *

><p><strong>Promotion<strong>

"What kinds of books does he read anyways?" Mayu asked, flipping through the pages of a book she held. We were out shopping with Yori, he was buying things for the children that he visited.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Long as it's huge and interesting... well, not sure about the interesting part 'cause he finds every book interesting so... Just look for a huge book that's age appropriate."

"Real age or kid age?" I asked.

"Kid age." he gave him a look.

"Okay!" I smiled childishly then went looking for a book. I saw that Mayu pulled a random book off the shelf and tossed it to Yori. The book was rather large and heavy. Yori caught it, but almost lost his grip.

"There, give that to him." she said.

"What's it about?" Yori looked at the book.

"Tch, I don't know. It looked large and stuff soo..." Mayu started looking through other things. Yori sighed.

"Can I have this hat?" I was grinning from ear to hear, waving up a sorta brownish grey, dark beige for some, full shape cap. I honestly did like the hat, and I could honestly have bought it myself.

"Next time, Itsuki." Yori said.

"Aw~!" I faked sighed and put it away, then we started heading to the cash register. We were waiting in line, until a man pulled out a gun. Everyone got silent and backed up.

"Nobody move!" he shouted. "Call the cops and I'll shoot!" then turned to the person behind the register.

I honestly gave a silent sigh. Was this many really know what he was doing? I wasn't afraid or anything. I was perfectly calm.

"You don't have to shoot people..." Yori said quietly.

"Shut up!"

"Nobody has to get hurt you know..." Yori was trying to talk the man out of it, but I knew it was completely pointless. This man wasn't very logical.

"I said shut up!" the man whirled around facing Yori and pulled the trigger causing a few people screamed and gasped. Before the bullet reached Yori, I ran in front of him and was shot in the abdomen. I wasn't going to let my friend get hurt. I fell to floor with blood flowing out; Yori and Mayu were next to me. The man eyes widen, horrified and guilty for what he had done, he dropped the gun and ran out. Mayu was holding hand hand with tears flowing out, scared and worried, and Yori was trying to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.

"Y-Yori? M-Mayu?" I voice wavered from the pain. He had blood coming out from the corner of his mouth.

"It's okay, just hang in there!" Yori I wanted to say to them…what I honestly wanted _was_ to die… I wouldn't mind dying right now—it would actually make me happy. But I knew this wasn't enough to kill me. But I passed out, due to the pain.

.

.

_It was the end of the month, and I was going to be able to observe one of the experiments that was going to take place. I was excited._

"_Do you really think that this boy is ready?" Mr. Bayer asked._

"_Ah! He worked very well in the position he was in, and learned many things quickly than average. He really did work hard, and he's very enthusiastic about this. I believe, Bayer-san, that he is ready!"_

"_I see." Mr. Bayer turned to me with a smile. "I trust Watahiro-san, if he believes you're ready, than you're ready."_

"_Thank you!" I grinned. "Thank you!"_

"_Well," Mr. Bayer pulled out his pocket watch. "it looks like it's time for me to go. Good bye." Then he left the building._

"_Now, Jochen-san, go get a pen and a note pad from your room, you'll be needing it." He said._

"_Yes, Watahiro-san." I said, then I quickly went to get those items._

_When I walked into my office, I saw Aloisia going through my drawer. She was trying to be quick about it, and was taking a large portion of the files and documents. She seemed too busy to notice me._

"_Aloisia…?"_

"_Oh!" She jumped and turned around. She looked extremely pale. "Jochen! It's just you…"_

"_What do you mean 'it's just you'?" I asked. "What are you doing?"_

"_O-Oh, I was ordered to—to take some of these files and give it to the others that work here…" She nervously replied._

"_Aloisia…are you okay?" I asked. "You haven't seemed to be well for quite some time now…"_

"_Oh, don't worry about me!" She forced a smile. "So, what's new with you?"_

"_Well, I sort of got promoted. I'm going to be observing an experiment that's going to currently take place soon!" I said happily. Her forced smile dropped. "Aloisia…?"_

"_Jochen… That's not…" she lowered her head as she placed both her hands gently on my shoulders. "Jochen, I'm sorry I'm not able to explain everything to you…about what's really going on…but, it's actually for your own safety." She looked back up with me, giving a weak smile. " Jochen, be strong, keep safe, stay smart…and if you actually get the chance…leave this place at your own risk…" with that, she left. _

_I looked over at the documents that she forgot to bring with her. What does she mean by all of that? I didn't know…but I got a sick feeling in my stomach._

_I tried my best to shrug it off. I grabbed a notepad and a pen, then started heading down to the lab. As I was about to enter the lab, the door swung opened, and I saw Aloisia running out with two kids. They must have been Yuu and Sheito, judging by the stories Aloisia told me, they fit the description. They seemed confused. She was holding their hands, running out of there in a hurry. I didn't know what that was about, but I proceeded to enter the lab._

"_You must go kill her now!" Mr. Watahiro argued with Vinzenz._

"_How can you tell me to just go kill my wife? Just like that?" Vinzenz shouted back._

"_Either you go do it, or I will—and I won't be merciless!" Mr. Mishofugi stated darkly._

"_But…! I…!" Vinzenz looked at the both of them in despair. _

"_That's an order, Vinzenz." Mr. Watahiro said. Vinzenz grabbed a knife, and hid it up his sleeve. I quickly went out of the lab room unseen. Vinzenz quickly walked out of the lab and past me, not noticing me._

_Was he really going to do it? I decided to follow. I continued to quickly walk down halls, trying to find them. But then, I saw the two kids, running down the hall together, without Aloisia. I saw Mr. Mishofugi quickly went in front of them, then grabbed them. The kids became greatly afraid and tried to struggle, but he didn't let go._

"_Come on, children, let's go visit the doctors now." He said. The kids started to cry and scream._

_The…doctors? Why did he lie—and, why did—and are taking the kids to the lab anyways? What was this all about? But I continued my search for Aloisia and Vinzenz. I started to think. She had to separate from the two kids for a reason…but what would the reason be? After a few seconds of thinking, I found the answer: she went to go get the documents and files she forgot._

_I quickly ran to my room and swung opened the door. I was horrified… Aloisia lied on the ground, soaked and covered in blood…dead. Vinzenz was holding the blood stained knife in his hand, covered in her blood. He just stood there, staring down at her._

"_V-Vinzenz!"_

"…_I had to do it…" he stated dully. "It was an order…I had to do it…"_

"_Vinzenz…" I slowly progressed towards him._

_He broke into laughter, though, sobbing as tears began to stream. "I told her to be careful! But she wasn't! She didn't listen to me! And look how she ended up! …Look how _we_ ended up…"_

_The next thing, he started to do something crazy—he shoved the blade into his stomach. His blood began to flow._

"_What are you doing?" I quickly tried to stop him. But he punched me, sending me back. He then pulled the blade out and continued to stab himself repeatedly._

"_Vinzenz! Stop it! Stop it right now!" I tried to stop him, but it was all in vain._

_He delivered the final blow to himself—stabbing himself in the heart. He froze for a second, before falling forward, dead._

"_O-Oh…Oh dear God…!" I stumbled backwards, then fell on my backside. I placed my hand over my mouth, gagging, feeling sick from the gory scene. I continued to gag a bit as I slowly quickened my breath, eyes widen._

_Mr. Watahiro walked in, looking at the scene. I looked up at Mr. Watahiro._

_He gave a sigh, remaining perfectly calm, only saying, "What a shame…"_

* * *

><p>AN: I don't own vocaloid, but I do own what I do own.

Weird Girl: : 3 Yay!

Bob: ...You're disturbing.

Weird Girl: _AM_ I?

Bob: ...I'm not going to speak to you anymore.

Weird Girl: D:


	13. Chapter 13 Worried

Weird Girl: Here's a chapter! Erm, I ish not feeling good, so I'll try my best to update as much as I can while I'm in bed-

Bob: Sleeping like there's no tomorrow~

Weird Girl: D: Bob~!

* * *

><p><strong>Worried<strong>

"…_What…a shame..?" I continued to stare at Mr. Watahiro. _

"_Yes, that's what I said." He sighed once more as he took a couple steps in, walking to the lifeless bodies of Vinzenz and Aloisia. He started practically patting down Aloisia's body, taking anything she had on her; one of the items was an envelope._

"_Is that all you have to say?" I began to get angry. How could he say that? After seeing all of this? After what happened?_

"_Aloisia-san was an excellent worker here—especially for a woman, but unfortunately," he pulled out the letter from the envelope, "she was some sort of spy. Vinzenz here…what a great worker also—too bad he lost his mind and committed suicide."_

"_You _ordered_ him to kill his _wife_! Of course he would have lost it!" I shouted. "And what do you mean Aloisia was a spy?"_

"_We've been researching her personal records and secretly reading her mail. She was getting inside information so she can send it out and expose our work and research." He sighed once more. "Though I can't read this, this is probably from the enemy giving her permission to leave this place or something…"_

"_Watahiro-san…what kind of experiments are we doing here…? What are the children here for…?"_

"…_Maybe you're not ready after all." Mr. Watahiro stated, placing the letter in his pocket. "But please…do _not_ speak of this ever again…"_

"_Watahiro-san! I wish to know what's going on here!" I yelled._

"_Why don't you continue your work with the kids you were assigned to while I go get someone to clean up this…mess." He calmly stated as he left._

_I looked over at the dead bodies, their blood still flowing. I clasped my hand over my mouth and gagged a bit. "Oh god…I-I'm sorry…!" I quickly scattered to my feet and ran out the door._

_I decided it was best to follow Mr. Watahiro's advice…for now. I went to Kiyoko's, Masaru's, and Yuki's room, entering through the door. I sat down and rubbed my forehead._

"_Jochen…what's wrong?" Kiyoko asked as she gently approached me. "You look very pale."_

"_I-I'm fine." I stated, lying. I knew I couldn't tell them what happened._

"_Your new position making you tired?" Masaru asked._

"_Um…well…" I slowly started. "They're thinking of…post-ponying it…"_

"_Aw! Don't be sad, Jochen!" Yuki came running over to me and gave me a bit of a hug._

"_I'm fine about it…I'm…very fine about it—really." I gave a weak smile._

"_But you seemed so excited about it and everything." Masaru stated._

"_Well…" I didn't know what to say. "…Um…Just, don't worry about me… On another good note—I get to spend more time with you three."_

"_Well, I'm glad about that!" Yuki stated with a smile._

_I gave a smile back to the three of them…but I began to get as sick feeling in my stomach, knowing something bad is going to happen later in the future…_

_._

_._

I slowly began to wake up. "…What are you guys doing in my room…?" I groggily asked—though…sadly, I wasn't acting when I asked.

"This is a hospital room." Yori told me.

"You took a bullet for Yori, remember" Mayu sat back down.

"Really...? I thought it was a dream..." I paused for a moment, then started putting on my false personality on. "Oh yeah! Now I remember!" I now remembered.

"Idiot! You could have got killed!" Yori said sternly, though, he didn't wear a mad expression, so he mustn't really be bad at me.

"But I didn't. Plus, if I didn't do anything, you could have been killed." I said. Yori sighed and patted my head.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Yori reached into a bag and pulled out something. He held up the hat darkish beige full shape cap that I wanted to get yesterday. Yori then placed it on top of my dark blond hair.

"You got it!" I started looking at it with my light brown eyes. I was happily grinning. "How did you know I wanted this?"

"...You asked if you can get it yesterday..." Mayu answered.

"Oh yeah!" Mayu grabbed my hat and put it on herself.

"I think it looks better one me~!" she posed, then handed it back to me.

"My hat!" I stuck my tongue out at her and hugged my hat close, then looked at Yori. "Aren't you supposed to be at the orphanage visiting the children?"

"Well... yeah..." Yori shrugged a little, then continued. "But what about you?"

"Eh, I'll be fine." I smiled.

"Okay then... Also, you should lay down and rest some more."

"Eh... Okay." I laid down. "Tell them I said hi!"

"Okay, ja-ne!" Yori picked up his things and walked out.

I gave a sigh. "I'm tired…"

"Then rest, Itsuki. Sleep some more." Mayu said.

"No thanks…" I quietly said. I didn't want to start dreaming anymore.

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><p>AN: I only own what I own, WHOOT WHOOT!

Weird Girl: \(^o^)/ HOW MUCH DID YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER?

Bob: ...Not so much.

Weird Girl: D: Why are you so mean, Bob?

Bob: ...Because you keep me here with you against my will.

Weird Girl: Derp! : 3


	14. Chapter 14 News

**News**

_I was laying my head down on my desk. I was tired, exhausted and a bit scared of what happened the past week. I shifted a bit, not really feeling comfortable being in this room anymore…I rarely go in it now, but when I do, it's either I have to do work or I'm tired…I can just grab some books and leave to go to the kid's room so I can study._

"_Jochen-san, is something wrong?" Mr. Mishofugi asked as he walked in._

_I wanted to give him a dirty look. Was he seriously asking that? Of course there's something wrong! Why wouldn't it be? Two of my friends died—one killing the other before himself in my room, nobody's telling me about what's going on around here, everyone acts like this is all normal! But instead, I just turned my head the other direction._

"_Are you sick, Jochen-san?" Mr. Mishofugi said with a bit of concern._

_I gave a sigh as I sat up, rubbing my head. "I'm just…tired…that's all."_

"_All this work has finally caught up to you?" Mr. Mishofugi asked._

"_Um…You can say that…" I stated as I rubbed my head once more._

"_You should rest more at night." Mr. Mishofugi stated. "Especially winter will arrive in a few days. You don't want to get sick."_

_I didn't get much sleep last night anyways…I took the kids outside like I usually do, twice a day. They're getting excited about winter, since they want to play in the snow. "Ja—um, Hai, you're right."_

"_Try to get more sleep, okay, Jochen-san?" Mr. Mishofugi stated._

"_Okay."_

"_Well, I'll be going then." He placed a couple of files on the table before leaving._

_I began to feel more tempted to look and read them lately. I've been working on reading Japanese, though, still a bit shaky on it. But I tried my best to resist as I continued to organize them and put them away. When I finished, I went over to visit the three in their room like usual._

"_Hello, Jochen!" Yuki ran up to hug me. "You look tired."_

"_Ja, just a little bit." I said. "But don't worry; I'll be back to my usual self in no time."_

"_Jochen, look at the leaves we've pressed." Kiyoko came beside me and showed me. "Aren't they lovely?"_

_I looked at the nicely pressed leaves of oranges, yellows, reds, and browns in the book I had given them just for that. "They're beautiful." I said as I smiled at her._

_I felt my cheeks turn red a bit, so I quickly turned away. This feeling that I keep having every time I look at Kiyoko won't go away, it's so weird. I want it to go away, yet…I don't. I just tried to shake it off._

"_Okay, so, Jochen, what are we going to do when it snows?" Masaru asked._

"_What do you mean?" I asked._

"_I want to do what we did with the leaves—how are we going to keep the snow inside without melting?"_

_I laughed. "That's impossible, you know."_

_Masaru gave a sigh. "I thought so."_

"_Don't worry; playing in the snow is enough for you." I stated as I sat down._

"_Jochen, can you show me how to make one of those snowman people make when it snows?" Yuki asked._

"_Of course, it's pretty easy actually." I said._

_As we continued talking, the door slowly opened. Yuki and Masaru quickly grabbed their toys they had out and hid them within their clothes, in the back. I closed the book and looked over my shoulder to see who was opening the door._

"_Mr. Bayer? What are you doing here?" I asked. "It's not the end of the month yet."_

"_Jochen…I need to speak with you." He stated gravely. I followed him out._

"_What is it, Mr. Bayer?" I asked._

"_First of all…I wish to tell you that I'm sorry about what happened to your friends, Aloisia and Vinzenz." He stated. "A young man who's new to all of this, that was probably shocking."_

_I gave a bit of a nod. Though, it wasn't shocking…more like terrifying._

"_Second of all…I thought I would give this to you in person." He then handed me a letter. "I'm sorry, Jochen."_

_I read the address. "It's about my brother…" my heart sank._

"_Another thing…Since I came here early, I won't see you exactly at the end of the month." He stated, then placed both hand on my shoulders. "Again, I'm so sorry about everything." Then he left._

_I entered the room and sat down on the floor. I began to examine my letter. It appeared to be already opened…did he read it without my permission?_

"_A letter?" Kiyoko said._

"_It's about my brother…" I stated._

_The room went silent. As I pulled the letter out from the envelope, my heart began to sink even more._

"_It say, 'Dear Jochen Reiher, We're sorry to inform you that you're brother, Erich Reiher, is-" I stopped._

"_Is what?" Masaru asked._

_My voice quivered as I tried my best not to let any tears flow. "…Erich Reiher, is now…is now d-deceased… His life ended by a bullet that went through both lungs… H-He was a b-brave, good so-oldier…and that—that he's going to b-be remembered…" _

_I stopped reading as I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Kiyoko wrapped her arms around me in comfort. Reality felt fake to me now._

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><p>AN: I only own what I own and stuff like that!

Weird Girl: Sorry for the suckish-chapter, I'll make sure they'll be better next time.

Bob: ...If we pray-

Weird Girl: D: SILENCE YOU FOOL!

Bob: ...Reviews will get any dessert of their liking, and silent readers will get cake-

Weird Girl: HAHAAHAH! GET IT! THE CAKE IS A LIE!

Bob: = =;; Not that again...


	15. Chapter 15 Love

Weird Girl: UPDATED! :D WHOOT!

Bob: ...Good for you.

Weird Girl: DO I GET MY COOKIES NOW? :D

Bob: No.

* * *

><p><strong>Love<strong>

"Shut up, Itsuki." Mayu sighed.

"Come on, you liked him since the first grade! You gotta tell him sooner or later." I stated.

Mayu and I were having a discussion about how she liked Yori. I wanted her to tell him already, I'm pretty sure their relationship would work out better compared to how mine did.

"And I pick later!" she frowned a little.

"There's nothing to be scared about." I took a slurp of my hot chocolate, since I never really did like coffee.

"How would you know? You never told anyone you liked them!"

"Actually," I paused a little, "I did." I lied…sort of.

"Really?" Mayu was stunned.

"Yeah."

"Who did you like? What happened?"

"Sakura, the one that had a popular sister." I continued to lie. I was only telling false stories. "We got to know each other and then I told her that I liked her."

"Really? What did she say?"

"Well, she said she didn't like me back in that way." I took another sip from his cup. I tried my best not to smirk.

"How is that supposed to help me then?"

"Well, all you asked was, like, what happened and stuff. It doesn't mean that he will say no to you too." I said. Mayu sighed.

When we were done with our conversation, I went home. My mother came up and gave me a close hug. She's been very concerned ever since the incident that happened in the parking lot. I keep telling her the same thing, that it was nothing and not to worry about it. Of course, she just says okay, but continues to worry. I went up to my bedroom to sleep. I haven't slept well—I mean, more than usual…despite how I hate dreaming, I thought it was best to get some sleep.

.

.

_It was the third week of winter. Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki continued to enjoy the beautiful snow that covered the land outside. The snow would always relax me from the stress that this work is causing me. I still don't know what's going on. I'm still in the dark. But I didn't mind, I did my best to take my mind off of everything._

"_Here are some warmer clothing for you. They approved of giving you warmer clothes." I said as I entered. "They said things would be best if we made sure if you don't get sick."_

_They all took their clothing and just wore it over the clothes that they had on now. That was probably a good idea anyways; it would give them more warmth. Kiyoko's winter kimono—which, to me, it's just a thicker kimono, was a periwinkle color. Masaru wore baggy, grey pants and a shirt over his clothing. Yuki wore a thick, red kimono._

"_The sleeves are too long for me!" Yuki announced as she waved her hands that were hidden by the sleeves. "Why am I always getting clothes that are too big for me?"_

"_Maybe they expect you to grow into them?" I laughed._

"_Don't worry, Yuki, you'll grow into them, I'm sure." Kiyoko smiled at her._

"_Hey, Jochen, when we make another snowman, can we keep it up instead of tearing it down like we've been doing?" Masaru asked._

"_You know why we can't do that." I said. "Like I said before, if we leave it up, they'll suspect something."_

"_Why can't you say you built it?" Yuki asked with a giggle._

_I laughed. "Well, I could say that…"_

"_Can we go outside tonight?" Masaru asked._

"_Eh, sorry, we already went twice this week." I stated._

"_Aw, please, Jochen!" Yuki and Masaru begged._

"_Guys, he can't." Kiyoko answered for me. "We don't want to cause him being in trouble."_

"_Yeah. That," I began, "and I don't want you guys to get sick. It's going to be a really cold winter."_

"_Okay…" Masaru sighed._

"_Next week, I'll let you guys out longer." I stated._

"_Okay!" Yuki and Masaru said, being fine with that._

"_Jochen…" Kiyoko came over to me. She whispered in my ear. "Can I speak to you later tonight…privately? When they're asleep, take me outside."_

_At first, I thought it was a way to sneak her out so she can be out in the snow, until I saw her face. She was looking away a bit, and was a bit serious. I gave a small nod, agreeing I will. After I spent my time with them, I left the room._

_As I was walking down the hall, Mr. Watahiro called out to me. "Jochen-san!"_

"_Oh, Hello." I greeted back. I was very uncomfortable around Mr. Watahiro ever since what happened to Vinzenz and Aloisia…but he acts like it never happened._

"_I want to apologize to you once more about how I said you would be promoted, yet, I didn't yet." He stated. That was his third apology about that._

"_Don't worry about it, Watahiro-san." I smiled, though, I knew it was best to go along. I was afraid to see what would happen if I didn't. "I'll be promoted whenever you think I should be. When you think I am ready."_

"_You're so obedient." Mr. Watahiro smiled. "Maybe you'll be promoted soon once more." And with that, he left._

"…_Liar." I muttered under my breath as I continued on my way._

_I continued my day like usual. I slept a bit before waking up to go check on Kiyoko, curious about what she wanted to tell me. It was practically after midnight when I arrived to her room. I slowly opened the door and looked inside. Kiyoko got up and walked out the door with me. Yuki and Masaru were still asleep. I kept Kiyoko close to me as we snuck outside. When we were outside, there was a bit of a pause before either of us spoke._

_"You, want to tell me something?" I looked over at Kiyoko._

_She was standing by the tree, brushing her pinkish-blue hair behind her ears. Her cheeks were turning pink as the snow continued to fall, the sky was dim, stars shining in the sky. "I-I...I, um..."_

_"Kiyoko, what is it?" I walked over to her, curious about what was on her mind, wondering why her cheeks were turning pink._

_She turned and looked right into my eyes, her own being glossy. "Jochen, I-I love you!" she stuttered, then quickly went to turn away, but I automatically grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her over a bit. I felt my cheeks turn red when she stated that. We stared at each other in silence._

_"I-I..." I didn't know what to say. But without realizing it, I was pulling her closer to me, slowly leaning forward._

_"I-I...love you, too..." I stated right before I kissed her, holding her close._

_Was the feeling I've been curious about…was it actually love all this time? I didn't know. And I didn't care. But I was now scared...scared about the future. Why was I so afraid? I had no reason to be. They're not going to find out…I'll make sure of it. I pulled away a bit to look at her, smiling as I brushed her hair behind her ear._

_But I want the sick feeling to go away…and just be stuck in time in the sweetness of the moment._

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><p>AN: I only own what I won and stuff like that and all it's that-ness AND IT'S STURF NESS AND ALL IT'S-

Bob: You're totally killing it with your Author's Note.

Weird Girl: ...Do I get my cookies now~? :D

Bob: You don't deserve them.

Weird Girl: ~! D':


	16. Chapter 16 Devastated

Weird Girl: I UPDATED!

Bob: Please enjoy this chapter...I think it's actually better than the last suckish chapters.

Weird Girl: :'D REALLY? THAT' MEANS A LOT!

Bob: ...Now you make me want to take it back...

Weird Girl: D:

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><p><strong>Devastated<strong>

"_It's late... I should take you back inside before you catch a cold." I stated._

_I kept her close to me as I snuck her back to her room. I went to my room and slept on the floor. I was too tired to actually set up a bed and everything, so I just slept on the cold hard floor without blankets. In the morning, I had regretted not setting up a bed—the floor was a lot worse than I expected. I had awoke to a sore back and an achy neck, but I still had to work._

_I was at my desk, still studying—though, this time; maybe I could find a clue about what we do here in this building, about the experiments and everything. Still tired, I was slightly nodding my head as I was organizing the files and documents. I was extremely curious, extremely tempted to read them. I was now worried about the future of Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki. What exactly do we do here? But I was soon going to find out._

_At that moment, Mr. Mishofugi and Mr. Watahiro came in, wearing extreme serious expressions. I stood up from my seat, a bit confused. Why were they so serious? What are they going to tell me? "Watahiro-san, Mishofugi-san…Is something wrong?"_

"_I came here to speak with you, Jochen-san." Mr. Watahiro stated seriously._

"_About what?" I asked._

"_I'll go get the lab prepared." Mr. Mishofugi stated as he left._

"_Get the lab prepared…?" Were they going to have me observe an experiment?_

"_Reiher-san, what did you do last night?" Mr. Watahiro stated._

"_What I did last night…?" I started to think—then I tried to force myself not to turn red. "I went to bed." I didn't exactly lie. Though, it didn't help, he become more furious._

"_Tell me what you did before that!" He demanded._

"_I stu-studied." I answered nervously._

"_Lies!" he shouted at me. "I know exactly what you did!"_

"_E-Exactly what I did?" I started to become worried—no, afraid…scared._

"_How long have you've been taking them outside? Because I'm pretty sure you haven't just been taking the girl outside!" he said._

_I froze…saying nothing._

"_How dare you jeopardize everything!" he continued. "And you feel in love with the older girl? Unspeakable! I bet they even have the toys with them that you were supposed to dispose of!"_

_I just continued to stand there, frozen. I can only assume my face turning pale. The only words I could speak were, "How…How did you…?"_

"_Have you forgotten that not all of us are asleep at night? And about the windows that are in this building?" he answered my question. "Now, Jochen-san, answer my questions! How long have you been letting them out? How long have you two loved each other?"_

_I only lowered my head._

"…_I see then." His voice got grave. "I…guess it's time to…to give you that promotion then."_

_I looked back up. "Wh-What do you mean? …What are the experiments we do here?"_

"_Jochen-san, I want you to gather up the three children you were assigned to, and bring them to the lab. Tell them nothing about what's really going to happen." He instructed._

"_Th-The lab? Why do I need to take them there?" I asked._

"_To be experimented on." He answered._

_My heart broke. "What? We're experimenting on children? How could that be? They're just children!" at first, I thought I was over reacting, so I asked, "They're not…terrible experiments…are they?"_

_He gave no answer._

"_I can't do it then!" I shouted. "How could we do that to children? I refuse to take any part in this—."_

"_Jochen-san," he began, "try to have them leave this place…try to leave this place, you will be instantly be put to death. Try to stop any of the experiments; you shall be put to death. Now, do you want to end up like Aloisia?"_

_I froze and my eyes widen. I understand why she was killed now…even if she wasn't a spy…she tried to stop it…she tried to escape. I didn't speak._

"_If you just simply leave the lab, we will allow you. But you are now officially promoted, we'll continue to force you to watch the experiments after every time you leave, over and over until you become numb…until you become used to it. Then you'll be able to take notes on the experiments, and help us improve them."_

"…_I thought….we were going to improve humanity…" I silently stated._

"_That's what we're doing." He said. "We're trying to lengthen a human's life span, so humans can live for all eternity…a cure for death."_

"_Immortality…?" I stared at him. "But…that's impossible! How are we supposed to do that?"_

"_So far, the only clue we found is that you can achieve immortality through the pain of children." He grimly stated. "And if we can have children achieve immortality, we will be able to extract it from them and sell it to anyone, or to find a way so that the cure for death won't be just for children…but for anyone of any age!"_

"_You're insane…" I slowly stated. "I refuse to do this!"_

"_But remember what I said?" he said. "You have no choice. Even if you do go try to kill yourself, what will that do? We'll still experiment on them."_

_It was true…what was I able to do? I hung my head in defeat._

"_Meet Mishofugi-san down in the lab—bring the children with you." He said as he began to leave, "You should have listened to me…and not had created a bond…"_

_I stood in the room, alone in silent, devastated…devastated about what was I going to do…about how I'm just…going to kill them. But I knew I couldn't do anything about it…so I went to go bring them down to the lab._

_"Hello..." __I greeted them as I entered._

_"Hello, Jochen!" the __three smiled up at me. I could feel my heart continuing to shatter._

_"You guys are going to see the doctors, just to get you checked up..." __ I lied, forcing on a smile. I took their hands as I lead them outside and down the hall._

_"What's wrong?" __Kiyoko__ asked. __ I continued to wear my false smile as I shook my head__._

_"It's nothing." __I__ replied. "Tired I guess."__ Inside, I was shouting, "Run away!"_

_"Then you need more sleep!" Yuki giggled._

_We__ walked through doors and finally arrived to__ the lab. __ The __lab__ was all plain white all clean and curtains to divide areas and counters that looked clean and sterile. It actually__ did__ look like a hospital room... but there were knives __and syringes __on the counter, though,__ I didn't think__ the children didn't notice __them…yet__. There were other scientist in the room, one having a notepad and pen. __Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki__ each took a seat, with a "doctor" was with each of them. __I was standing by the door as they waited for their "check-up" to begin. I felt my throat started to get a knot in it._

_The three just waited, thinking everything was going to be fine because of me. Then I saw one of the scientists grab a knife, then slowly began to make a slit in Yuki's throat. Yuki started to scream as tears began to stream, crying out for help. _

_They started to cut Masaru, but decided to inject him with something instead. I couldn't see because of the distance I was at, but his eyes started to…change or something. The next think I saw was that he started to cough up a red vile—blood._

_They restrained Kiyoko as they started to roll her kimono up a bit, enough to completely reveal her arms and legs. They started making cuts on her…horrible bleeding gashes. She was screaming as loud as she could…they all were._

_They were all looking at me…screaming for me to help them…begging for me to make it stop. All crying, looking at me straight in the eyes. Kiyoko was even trying to stretch out to me, while Yuki was mouthing my name, her voice slowly disappearing. _

_I didn't know why, but I continued to smile…though, sadly this time. I couldn't do anything. I tried to stay, but I couldn't. I couldn't take any of it. I selfishly walked out the door, leaving them all behind. I ran down the hall until I didn't know which hall I was in, I felt disoriented. I leaned up against the wall, then slid down to the floor. I buried my face in my knees as I began to weep. How could I have done what I just did? How could I have just left them there…just like that?_

_I didn't know how long I was there, just crying. But, I started to hear a commotion. I heard a couple of other scientists started to call out, "Get them! Get them!" and more. I raised my head and looked across the halls. As I looked down one direction, I saw Kiyoko, holding onto Yuki and Masaru, running. I froze for a second, but I quickly stood up unsteadily, and ran to go help them. I didn't care what happens to me now, they're more important._

_I started to run up and down the halls, until I caught a trail of blood, and began to follow it. I went down the halls until I saw where it leads to. The trail had lead into their room. I quickly opened the door to find Kiyoko holding onto Masaru and Yuki as they lay on the floor, in a puddle of their blood._

"…_O-Oh dear God…" I started to cry once more as I fell to my knees._

_I crawled a bit over to them, sobbing. I carefully laid them neatly next to each other. I looked over at Masaru's eyes that were still a bit opened, and saw that the iris had turned black…was it that the iris somehow began to rot at a high rate before he even died? Or was it something else. I gently dragged my hand over his eyes, closing them. _

_I looked over at Yuki…the youngest… Her face was pale…still retaining the terrified look she had as her little eyes remained closed. I stroked her soft cheek…she won't be able to experience growing up. _

_I then looked over at Kiyoko… We just had confessed our love to each other…then this happens. I carefully revealed her arms and legs, to look at her wounds. Horribly deep gashes that made her bleed a lot…but what I saw was they had severed veins…and one important vain in the thigh—the main artery in the leg._

"_I'm so sorry…" I cried as I placed my fore head on them, gently wrapping my arms around all of them. "I'm so, so sorry…"_

"_Come on, Jochen-san." I heard Mr. Watahiro say, but I didn't turn around. "It's time to go."_

_I ignored him, continuing to mourn for them. I didn't want to leave them…like how I did in the lab. I won't abandon them any longer. I wanted to stay there with them until I rot. But for some reason, I started to develop this idea that they…they were still alive—that they could still be saved._

"…_We…We have to help them! We can't just let them die!" I started to shout. "We just can't! We need to help them!" I started saying, still ignoring Mr. Watahiro and Mr. Mishofugi._

"_Mishofugi-san…please help Jochen-san up." I heard him say. Apparently, Mr. Mishofugi was with him._

_Mr. Mishofugi came up behind me and started to pull away. Despite being a smaller man, he was surprisingly a lot stronger than I._

_I tried to resist. "NO! LET ME GO! I WON'T LEAVE THEM! I REFUSE!" I shouted as I tried to break away. I stopped shouting in Japanese, and in my native tongue._

_When I was finally dragged out of the room, Mr. Watahiro went to the door and locked it. I continued to shout until Mr. Mishofugi let go and punched me right in the cheek. I went to the ground._

"_That will do, Mishofugi-san." Mr. Watahiro stated._

_I crawled back up and ran over to the door, banging my fist against it when I realized it wouldn't open. I continued to shout, but in Japanese again so they could understand me. "NO! NO! WE CAN STILL HELP THEM! OPEN THIS DOOR! PLEASE! PLEASE!"_

"_Jochen-san! That's enough!" Mr. Watahiro coldly stated._

_I sobbed as I sunk down to my knees. "No…No…"_

"_This door shall be remained lock until the day you die." Mr. Watahiro said. "We don't need you to go in that room and become nostalgic, do we?"_

_I just continued to sob, telling Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki that I was sorry._

"_Mishofugi-san, let's leave Jochen-san alone for a while, shall we?" Mr. Watahiro stated as they began to leave. "Please be ready for an experiment _tomorrow_, Jochen-san."_

_I just continued to lean my forehead against the door, crying. "I'm sorry…it was an order…I had to…It was an order…" Was I making excuses for something so inexcusable? I didn't know…I just continued to say anything that came to my mind. "I'm sorry… I really am…Please forgive me… I'm sorry…"_

.

.

"Itsuki!" I heard Mayu shouting slightly. I jumped out of my seat as I woke up.

Oh... Hi guys..." I said, smiling embarrassingly. I had forgotten that I had fallen asleep, waiting with Mayu for Yori to wake up. Yori was in a hospital for being greatly injured at the orphanage…I had an idea who did it though.

"Itsuki, are you okay?" Yori asked. I nodded.

"We got to go Itsuki, it's really late." Mayu said.

"Oh, okay." I yawned as Mayu and I began walking out.

"Bye guys." Yori gave a small wave.

"Bye." We said back.

As Mayu and I were walking out the hospital, she gave me a concern look, "Itsuki, are you okay? You've been acting strange lately."

"I'm fine! Really!" I smiled happily…lying through my teeth.

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><p>AN: I only own what I own. SUING IS NOT APPROVED!

Weird Girl: :D I am a normal teenager-ness!

Bob: ...I don't know, your stories are the type that wouldn't suit your personality and the way you act... Concluding, you're not normal.

Weird Girl: ...Well, my user name IS "Weird Girl"...

Bob: ...Good point.

Weird Girl: ...Hey, how come Fan Fiction doesn't let you indent? Just curious.

Bob: ...Good question. Question to the Readers: What do YOU think is the reason why Fanfiction doesn't allow you to indent and stuff? (reading note card)

Weird Girl: Please review about this chapter and the Question of the Day! (^o^)

Question of the Day: Why doesn't Fanfiction allow indenting?


	17. Chapter 17 Discovering

Weird Girl: UPDATED-NESS!

Bob: ...Okay then.

Weird Girl: and...BEGIN!

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><p><strong>Discovering<strong>

Yori was sitting with Kaito, talking, as I continued to avoid the twins—Rin and Len. Yori and Aoi saw me sitting in front of the Coffee shop alone when they came by. They said I could come with them to the orphanage...why did I even agree? I had no clue…I've been going crazy lately—well, more crazy than usual.

Rin and Len were trying to keep close to me, but I wouldn't allow it. I didn't want them to start reading my mind. I've been blocking them the best I could, but I've been tired lately, so I was a bit weak on the blocking, so I wanted to keep my distance. I tried to pretend to be distracted by something, running to the other side of the room or something, but they would always try to follow me.

I noticed Kaito and Yori were talking, looking at me. Were they getting suspicious? I didn't know…I just continued to act like my false self and tried to make it seem like nothing was up.

We walked out of the door, then Yori said, "It's time to visit the other kids."

"The other kids?" I looked at Yori.

"Oh yeah, you haven't meet them. Well, I guess it would be okay to bring you along." He said as he started to lead Aoi and I down the hall. I had almost forgotten that he visited _them_…I was now afraid.

As we were walking down the halls to get to the room, I continued to look around with mournful eyes, remembering everything. It's been so long since I actually walked down them…though, of course, it just seemed like yesterday like I did. We continued on our way to the room. I was extremely nervous…worried…scared… As Yori turned the knob, I remember when it was locked and how I haven't gone in it ever since. I was extremely hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Yori asked.

"I-It's nothing…" I lied.

"Are you sure…?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

Yori opened the door and he and Aoi casually walked into the room as they greeted…Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki. I froze once I took a step in. Kiyoko _was_ immortal…completely immortal, while Masaru and Yuki were…spirits—though, different than ordinary spirits… I stared at them…horrified and heart broken.

"Hello, Yo—." The smile that Kiyoko wore before she turned and saw me dropped…it was to be expected. Our eyes met as we stared at each other. Her eyes were full of sorrow…and pain…I had hurt her so bad… I couldn't remove my eyes away from Kiyoko's, but I could also feel Masaru's and Yuki's eyes penetrating me also…I already know they're filled with just as much pain. Kiyoko started to look like she was fighting back tears, trembling.

"Kiyoko…I'm sorry…" I gently spoke in a whisper, finally breaking silence.

Kiyoko stopped her trembling as she lowered her head, clutching her fists. She suddenly got up, and charged at me, tackling me so we both fell to the floor. Kiyoko sat on top of me as she wrapped her hands that felt cold around my throat—tightly.

"**WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?**" Kiyoko screamed at me as streams of…of red tears—blood (which shocked me) came down, falling on my own face. I saw that Masaru and Yuki were holding both Yori and Aoi back, so they couldn't help me.

"Kiyoko…I'm sorry…" I spoke with little air. I wasn't trying to get her off of me. This was the right thing for me to do after all…I did leave her like this.

"**WHY?**" she shouted at me, repeating.

"I know what I did was unforgivable Kiyoko..." I continued. "I'm so sorry..." More tears began to stream down her cheeks. Kiyoko released one hand and slapped me, then she returned it to its place around my throat.

"**WHY?**" she slapped him again.

"...I'm sorry, Kiyoko..." I said once more, then I paused for a few moments, thinking. It's all my fault she's like this…that she and Masaru and Yuki are like this…to go through the terrible things they did...all my fault…I deserved the highest punishment reasonable.

"...I deserve to die..." I began again, "Kill me if you wish... If it would make you feel better... go ahead, I wouldn't blame you... I deserve it..."

She slapped me once more. But I just continued to stare at her…

"Why…? Why, Jochen…?" she lowered her voice. "Why…?"

"Kiyoko... I'm so sorry... I know that isn't good enough for what I did... but... that's all I can do..." I said in a whisper. Kiyoko's grip only tightened.

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Her voice went back to screaming. "YOU JUST LEFT US THERE! YOU-YOU KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO US! AND BECAUSE OF THIS, WE WENT THROUGH A LIVING HELL, AND WE'RE STILL LIVING IN IT! AND YOU DIDN'T CARE AND STILL DON'T CARE! YOU KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! I TRUSTED YOU!" she sobbed.

"I know... You guys should have never gone through that... I should have stopped it... Kiyoko, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... If I can go back to the past and change it... I would..." I lifted my hands to her cheeks and gently began wiping her flowing tears of blood. "I wish I can..."

I finally began to get light headed, I couldn't breathe at all now, I was gasping for air. Even though I really _did_ want to die by Kiyoko's hands so badly…for all of the unjust things I've done, my natural instincts kicked in and began to struggle. My mind tried to tell my body to stop struggling and let it be, but my body refused to listen.

Yori finally broke free of Masaru's grip as he ran over to me as quickly as he can, trying to yank Kiyoko off of me. Kiyoko wouldn't budge until Yori hand to unwrap each individual finger off of my throat. When her hands were off for a split second, he quickly pulled her off, backed up, and began to hold her back the best he could. She continued to try to break free from the grip to attack me, but Yori continued to hold onto her tightly.

"Itsuki... You're Jochen's reincarnation, aren't you?" He asked.

I shamefully looked away. I didn't want to admit it to him…but it was the truth. Yori already knew about what I did…about everything. Of course he did…I was ashamed. I was sure of myself that I was going to lose another friend.

"I knew it…" Yori stated.

"You knew what?" Aoi asked. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Heh, that's right, you don't know anything... You must be really confused, huh Aoi?" I looked over at her, giving a bit of a smile, though, I guess it was a sad one.

Yori had released Kiyoko when she calmed down; I wasn't allowed to take a step near them. Aoi stated that it was late, and it was time to go. We walked out, and I began to explain my story to Yori and Aoi, the story about my past life. Aoi had figure out that Kiyoko and I loved each other, and wanted to get more detail about it. I was embarrassed, and changed the subject.

After I was pretty much done explaining my story, Aoi asked if I really did write documents down, read files and everything, and when I replied, she had asked if it's possible to find a way to set the children free.

"Do you?" Yori asked as he turned to me.

"Yeah... I think. I would have to search through documents and books and files to see if I might find something..." I explained. Yori and Aoi looked back at each other and back at me.

"Would you help us Itsuki? You could help free Kaito, Kiyoko, and the others! We know where the room is, the room where you had all the important papers are!"

"I don't know..." I gave a doubtful look. "It was many life times ago, I'm not sure if I still know a lot about how immortality works."

"You were just making up theories about how Aloisia, Vinzenz, and Kiyoko could have become immortal without the help of some machines." Aoi pointed out. Yori and Aoi had the same determined look on their faces, staring at me, waiting for me to give my answer.

"I-I still don't know..." I said. "I don't know if it's reversible or not..."

"Please Itsuki," Yori begged, "at least try! You might actually help them become free! You might even free Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki."

I thought for a long moment, before I responded. "Okay," I finally said, "I'll help.

We headed down to my old office, where the files and documents were—after all, why wouldn't they be there? When we arrived, we had Aoi wait outside the door for her own safety. Yori and I walked in the room. I looked around, feeling nostalgia, though, it dusty and dark, nothing in the room had changed. I went over to the bookshelf and grabbed one of the books I studied, flipping through pages.

We continued to search around, looking for things that could be important. Any books, files, documents that could help me find a way. I placed anything that could help me on my desk, so I could take them when we leave. Yori walked over to the window.

"So…what happened to you?" he asked.

I paused, then looked over at him. "What do you mean?"

"You know... Like, did you work here for the rest of your life? You did say that if you tried to leave or quit, you would end up dying..."

I was silent for a bit before I spoke, "I was killed when I was twenty... I was tired of watching children being tortured... so I tried to leave that place... Tch, I could tell you, they didn't like it. I tried to run, but..." I got silent.

"I'm sorry..." Yori said. I shook my head.

"It's alright. That was in another life. Heh, funny... Out of all the past lives I probably had, I could remember my life when I was Jochen clearly. It's like, this life and that life has been the only lives I lived, you know?"

"Strange..."

"I wonder if it's so that I could help the children that suffered immortality..." I gave a small smile. Could this be the reason why I remember my past life memories? Yori said I'm a new person, despite sharing the same soul with Jochen, but because I remember everything so clearly, I still consider myself the same as him…is there really a reason behind all of this after all? Not just because I'm being punished for the sins I've done?

At that moment, we began to hear steps resound in the room—I knew those steps. Yori and I looked at each other as I quickly went to get the files, documents, and books that could help me, then we tried to make it to the door…but to my surprise, I saw Vinzenz, standing in front of the door, blocking our way.

"V-Vinzenz!" I exclaimed in shock. I guess Vinzenz was also in shock, too, judging by his face.

"Jochen?" Vinzenz stared back. We began to speak to each other, though, in German.

"You're…a ghost?" I stared at him. "Immortal ghost…?"

"And you're…alive?" he stared back., he chuckled a bit, "You haven't changed at all, Jochen!"

"Reincarnated…" I stated quietly.

"You still remember the language?" Yori asked.

"I know, strange, huh? I still know how to read in the language, too." I then resumed back to Vinzenz.

"So, you're back from the dead? For what?" Vinzenz began smiling. "To continue the experiments? Ha! In case you haven't noticed, this place died out when the war ended! Are you going to kidnap children to continue research?"

I glared and raised my voice. "I'm here because I'm going to find a way to set everyone free!"

"Setting everyone free? From what?" he laughed, "Nobody can be free! It's only an illusion! Besides, you and I both know that we all deserve to be in hell!"

"There is freedom, but it doesn't come free!" I stated. "But of course, why should I explain this to you? It's pointless! You've lost it!"

"Oh? _I_ lost it?" Vinzenz started to laugh. "And you haven't with what happened to the children you've assigned to? Oh, I'm _sure_ they had forgiven you for what you've done to them! Hahaha! Of course they have! Or…Am I _wrong_? I wouldn't mind being wrong this time…I bet they're full of hate now because of you!"

"Shut up…" I stated quietly. "I'm going to help them and—."

"You can never do anything that can help save you from your sin! Even if you do find a way to help us all, do you _really_ think we'll be happy? Ha! You're not so smart as you used to be, Jochen!"

"I'm not Jochen!" I started to grit my teeth. This was a moment where I wanted to forget my _past_. "I'm Oshiro Itsuki now!"

"Is that so…? You don't see different at all except for your eyes! Ha! Stop trying to fool yourself, Jochen! You're still the same person! Carrying the same sin, and for punishment, you'll suffer through each life time with the memory of it! Isn't that true though? I mean, with what _I've_ done—look at me! I'm getting punished for it! And you are, too! Just face the fact that you can't run away from your past!"

"URUSAI!" I shouted in Japanese.

Vinzenz started to chuckle darkly, pulling out a knife as he prepared to attack. Yori and I took a step back. As Vinzenz charged at us, we both dodge him, getting out of the way as we quickly went out the door as fast as we could.

Aoi, who seemed to have been sitting down up against the wall, got up and walked up to them.

"What happened? Did you guys get the information you needed?" Aoi asked. We gave a nodded.

"I got a lot of things to look through. So I'll look through these tonight to see if I find anything." I stated.

"Are you sure? It's pretty late and there are a lot of things to look through, it might take all night... You might not even get sleep." Yori said.

"It's okay." I said. "I'll be fine. Plus, the sooner I find out something, the better."

"Alright then, let's go home now." Aoi said. "It's late and Mom will probably yell at us or something." Yori nodded and we all began walking home.

I was sitting on my bed, going through each individual files and documents, and books that I had taken, studying, remembering, trying to find a way that could help. It brought back many horrible memories, but I tried my best to stand it. I made sure that my mother didn't see any of these—she would be horrified. I was writing down notes, storming ideas, and when I found the solution…and the two possible results from the solution, I fell asleep, waiting for morning.

* * *

><p>AN: I only own what I own. No steal-ly steal-ly.

Bob: ...Steal-ly Steal-ly?

Weird Girl: ...It's a word.

Bob: ...Just like the word "Canonbala" is a word? = =;;

Weird Girl: D: YES! IT MEANS...It means...IT'S A WORD THAT MEANS TO CRACK A WALNUT!

Bob: ...What the-?

Weird Girl: Cookies for those who review! Silent readers will become a foam finger! :D


	18. Chapter 18 Bullet

Weird Girl: UPDATED! This chapter only took me two days to finish...I wonder if that's a new record.

Bob: ...I don't think so, close though.

Weird Girl: What do you mean?

Bob: Well...Remember chapter one?

Weird Girl: ...OOOOH~! Oh, yeah...Darn.

* * *

><p><strong>Bullet<strong>

_It had been a little over a two years since that day, I was twenty, been working there for a total of a little over three years. Mr. Watahiro had me observe experiments, take notes, create files and documents myself…every single day of my life. I had grown numb…completely numb. I was swallowed deep in sorrow and depression…but I never showed it of course. I had always worn a straight face._

_I felt lifeless. My "friends" would always come to me, trying to speak to me—sometimes make a joke, but I would only nod and continue whatever I was doing. Mr. Bayer always continued to visit me, to see how I was doing, by the end of the day. He would go on about how I've came so far, and how he's glad I've improved so much since the day I first started. Improved? I know inside that I've gotten worse than how I started out._

_Also…about my "friends"… Mr. Mishofugi had suddenly disappeared one day. There was a rumor that he was about to betray everyone in this building. How? By trying trying to get the word out; which was strange, because, after all, it seemed like he wanted to take over, run this building. Maybe the rumor was a cover up, a reason to get rid of Mr. Mishofugi, and I believed Mr. Watahiro was the one who got rid of him, after all, if Mr. Mishofugi had achieved the position, he would have replaced Mr. Watahiro. Not to mentioned that Mr. Mishofugi was ten years younger than him, it would have probably been shameful to have someone much younger be in charge of someone older._

_We continued to do research to find immortality. By the new year of my third year here, a special machine was created…unfortunately, my idea. I didn't want to take part in any of it, but I was obligated. We still continue to tweak the machine each month, trying to improve it. The machine was called Eien—Eternity. We were close to achieving immortality…the machine helped kept the child living longer with the pain and suffering added—even in the most drastic condition they were in…before they died. So, it was like a life supporter almost…yet, it had a strange effect on them. The wounds that we created on them would close up, but they would re-open right before they died._

_But one day, I decided to end everything…_

"_Ritsu-kun, now sit still right here." Mr. Watahiro smiled kindly at the small boy. It was the end of the month and an experiment was going to take place._

"_When am I going to get my pink flowered kimono I was promised?" he pouted as he puffed his cheeks. He was only six, with very feminine features for a six year old boy—he even grew out his hair a bit._

"_After your check up." Mr. Watahiro stated as he began to tie a blindfold around Ritsu._

"_Why am I being blind folded?" Ritsu asked, not knowing what to expect._

"_So we can test your sense of feel—didn't you know that if you take away one sense, the others become stronger?"_

_Once Ritsu was completely blindfolded, the scientists began to attach "Eien" to Ritsu, directly over the heart. The scientist began to pull out blades and syringes that began to make contact with Ritsu. They injected Ritsu with more chemicals that they averagely would, and began to make deeper cuts. The boy cried out in pain, screaming on the top of his lungs. Like usual, I watched with numbness as I wrote down notes of his (obvious) reaction to all of the pain, and how the machine is affecting him. I believe I wore a blank expression the entire time…until…_

"_Jochen-san…why don't I give you a promotion, right now?" Mr. Watahiro said as he turned to me. "You've greatly improved since that day."_

"_A…promotion?" I looked up at Mr. Watahiro, speaking dully. "What would I have to do?"_

"_You have to help conduct the experiment." Mr. Watahiro stated, walking over to me._

"_Help..conduct the experiment?" I didn't understand at first. "Wh-What do you mean?"_

"_What do you think." Mr. Watahiro placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're numb enough to help now."_

_I stared over at Ritsu, who was crying his eyes out as he was trying to with stand the pain. I began to think. What are we all doing here? I wasn't going to inflict pain on the child. Emotion began to over whelm me. Without thinking, I socked Mr. Watahiro across the face, sending him flying to the ground, knocked out. I grabbed a specific key from him before the other scientists could run over and help Mr. Watahiro, then ran to Ritsu, detaching him from the machine, then ran out the door._

_I held the child close to me as I began to run in any direction, running up and down halls, trying to get out of there. Ritsu was breathing heavily, coughing as much blood as his little body could, weasing. I continued to run faster and faster as I heard the sound of shouting, footsteps in a hurry to find us. I found myself quietly singing a soft lullaby that my mother had sang to me and my brother once when we were younger, to help us fall asleep everynight, " Leise, Peterle, Leise", but naturally, singing it in my language._

"_Leise, Peterle, leise_

_der Mond geht auf die Reise._

_Er hat sein wießes Pferd gezäumt,'es _

_geht so sanft als ob es träumt._

_Leise, Peterle, leise…"_

_Ritsu stopped crying a bit as I continued to sing, but still sniffling with tears running down in pain, continuing to cough up blood. After a while…he was completely silent, and very limp. I still held him close as I found myself in front of the door…the door that belonged to the room of the three I was assigned to. I pulled out the specific key I had taken from Mr. Watahiro, placing it in the key hold, turning it, unlocking it. I didn't know what I was truly doing, I was completely out of my mind…lost it like how Vinzenz lost his mind…but, without any killing involved._

"_There he is!" I heard someone shout. I turned to see a couple of scientist, running down the hall towards us._

_I pulled out the key from the unlocked door, placing it in my pocket as I began to run. I continued to run down the hall, running to get out of the building. I hadn't realize I had ran past Mr. Bayer until I heard him. I had forgotten he was going to visit me, but I didn't start running…still singing to Ritsu—or was it really me I was singing to, to keep myself calm? It could be both._

"_Jochen!" I heard Mr. Bayer, but I continued to run._

_I had made outside, running out the double doors of the building, making it out a couple of meter away from the front door until I heard Mr. Bayer shouting, "Jochen! Stop right there!"_

_I heard click of a gun. I stopped running; holding Ritsu close as I blankly looked over my shoulder, seeing Mr. Bayer aiming a pistol at me, wearing a dead serious face. But I continued to quietly sing in the softest whisper voice I could._

"_Now, put the child down!" Mr. Bayer demanded._

_I only held Ritsu as I blankly shook my head._

"_Jochen, put the child down right now! …he's already dead…" he tried to put no sympathy in his voice, but failed in doing so. I wonder if the sympathy was for me or the child._

_I looked at the boy, limp and silent in my arms. I had stopped singing as gently laid Ritsu on the floor. I saw that the front of his lilac kimono was covered with the blood he had spat up, and his skin had became pale white. I slowly and gently removed the blindfold from Ritsu, revealing his closed little eyes. I brushed some of his hair behind his ear before I stood back up, looking over at Mr. Bayer._

"_Take another step, and I'll have to shoot, Jochen." Mr. Bayer stated._

"…_There are…other places like this place…isn't there?" I asked._

"…_Yes."_

"…_Are they all doing the same thing…?_

"…_Not exactly. Some are working with genetics, trying to help create the perfect race, some doing the same as us, and some are working with the mental…"_

"…_Oh, I see…"_

"_Please, Jochen, don't take another step…I don't want to have to do it." He tried to persuade me. "I'll make sure that they'll let you off easy—."_

"_It was nice meeting you, Mr. Bayer." I smiled at him._

_He closed his eyes for a second before opening them and giving a nod. "You, too, Jochen."_

_I turned back around, taking another step away from the building, having Mr. Bayer pull the trigger. For some reason, I heard the sound of someone calling out my name as it was being drowned out by the sound of the bullet._

…_Must have been nothing…_

* * *

><p>AN: I don't own vocaloid or utau or anything except for what I own and what I own owns and their owing ship of owning utility.

Bob: ...the Author's Note killed the ending mood again.

Weird Girl: It brightens up the mood!

Bob: ...You're not suppose to kill the mood...It's suppose to linger to make readers think about it and stuff.

Weird Girl: Who are you? My manager! Psh!

Bob: ... = = (looks at stories) ...Again, the way you act and...how you are...personality...How the heck does it come out like _this_?

Weird Girl: :D Sometimes you're lemons, and sometimes you're limes. You'll be lucky enough to have a day to be a peach! ^-^

Bob: ...What?

Question of the Day: What do you think I mean when I say, "Some times you're lemons, and sometimes you're limes, but you'll be lucky enough to have a day to be a peach!"?

Song:

*Leise, Peterle, Leise

Leise, Peterle, leise

der Mond geht auf die Reise.

Er hat sein wießes Pferd gezäumt,'es

geht so sanft als ob es träumt.

Leise, Peterle, leise.

Stille, Peterle, stille,

der Mond trägt eine Brille;

ein graues Wölkchen schob sich vor,

das sitzt ihm grad auf Nas und Ohr

stille, Peterle, stille.

Träume, Peterle, träume

der Mond guckt durch die Bäume.

ich glaub sogar,jetzt bleibt er stehn

um Peterle im Traum zu sehn.

Träume, Peterle, träume.

*Quiet, Little Peter, Quiet

Quiet, little Peter, quiet,

The moon is going on a trip,

He bridled his white horse,

Which goes softly as if in a dream,

Quiet, little Peter, quiet.

Still, little Peter, still,

The moon is wearing glasses,

A little grey cloud is passing by

And covers his ears and nose,

Still, little Peter, still.

Dream, little Peter, dream,

The moon is looking through the trees,

I think he is actually standing still,

To look at Peter dreaming,

Dream, little Peter, dream.


	19. Chapter 19 Results

Weird Girl: (on the ground, KO'd)

Bob: ...Weird Girl has been very very busy lately...

Weird Girl: School Work & Projects...homework...Chapters...Story-CRUDDLES! I FORGOT ABOUT-wait...no, I posted that chapter already...

Bob: ...(facepalms)

* * *

><p><strong>Results<strong>

I had woken up, and it was late in the afternoon. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, "At least I got a full rest this time…" I would usually only get four to five hours of sleep before waking up due to fright from my memories, until I would get tired enough to fall asleep again; but when I would fall asleep again, I would be woken up in the next hour or two.

I got out of bed as I began to change into my clothes, grabbed a couple of files as I went down stairs. When I was about to walk out the door, my mother turned around and saw me. She smiled.

"Itsuki! You've slept in for a long time!" She stated as she walked over to me.

"Ah! I stayed up late studying," I wasn't really lying, "so I was really tired!"

"Oh, Itsuki, try not to work yourself too hard." She said. "Where are you going in such a hurry anyways?"

"I was supposed to meet Yori-kun and Mayu-chan an hour ago! I'm really late!" I stated.

"Oh! Well, do you want something to eat real quickly?" Mother asked.

"I'm fine, we're most likely going to eat out. We're meeting close to a restaurant anyways."

"Well, okay then. See you later when you come back then." She said.

I quickly left, still carrying the files with me. I had forgotten my jacket—I realized I forgot it when I was a couple blocks away from my house and I realized I was freezing. But, I was too much in a hurry to go back to the house to get one, so I just continued on my way. I stopped behind the door, getting ready to put on my act before walking inside.

"Hello~!" I walked inside, being my happy-go-lucky "self".

"Hello, Itsuki." Yori greeted me casually.

"Um, Yori, can I talk to you outside for a moment~?" I asked with a cheerful smile. I rather not speak of what I found in front of the others.

"Oh stop your acting already," Kaito said, sounding a bit irritated, "we already know the truth."

"What are you talking about?" I gave him a confused look, which seemed to irritate him more.

"We know that you were a scientist in a past life." Kaito glared at him, crossing his arm. I became a bit embarrassed as I rubbed the back of my neck. I knew I was now going to be hated.

"Oh, I see you found out. Ehehe, I'm not surprised since the twins over there have some sorta of telepathy power, so they probably got the information from Yori then. Ehehe." I said.

"Sorry Itsuki." Yori said. I smiled as I shook my head.

"Eh, it's okay; it was going to happen anyways."

"So, Yori said that you might help us with something, and the twins seemed to be shocked about it; so, what are they talking about?" Kaito asked, arms still crossed. I looked at Yori. Yori nodded his head. I looked back at Kaito.

"Well... I might help you with your... immortality. A-As in, I could get rid of it for you. You could be free..." I told him nervously. I didn't know what they were thinking of me now.

Kaito, along with the others stared at me. The room fell silent as I had stated that. Kaito unfolded his arms and stared at me. I was curious about what he was thinking. He seemed like he was having mixed feelings judging by the look he had.

"A-As in... we won't be immortal anymore?" Bushido asked.

"As in, we might be able to leave this room- wait, this place and go out into the world?" Gackupo looked over at the atlas he had next to him.

"As in, we might be normal children?" Miku smiled.

"You're not lying, are you?" Negato asked. "You're not playing a cruel joke on us, right?"

"No, I'm not." I said. Kaito stayed silent. The twins had a straight face on them, staring at me, trying to go through my thoughts, but I was still resisting the best I could. They may know that I was a scientist that worked here, but I rather not have them read my mind no matter what.

"So Itsuki... did you find anything?" Yori asked, hoping he did.

"Well... I did, but... maybe we should talk about this outside." I said, looking at everyone's faces.

"No," Kaito finally spoke, "I want to hear too." The others nodded their head. I gave a sigh. I didn't want to tell them what I had found…I didn't know how they would react.

"If you want... I guess you should since this involved you..." I finally after a long pause.

"So Itsuki, you said you found something?" Yori said.

"Well..." I paused for a moment. "Yes, I did find something. When the children became immortal, the scientist tortured them, torturing them physically and mentally, which, both has to do with the heart. When being the body was being tortured, it affected the heart, and when they were being tortured mentally, they had many feelings going on, not just pain, but sadness, anger, and more also. The heart is mostly the symbol of feelings, so when being tortured, it affected the heart also. Also, the soul, you might also think of the heart sometimes; so, when becoming immortal, stops ageing the body and soul, also affecting the heart. Plus, when the scientist attached the children to the machines, they connected the machines to the children's heart, just right above it, but it was still connected to the heart. I also read something about the ties of immortality. When the immortal process happens, the person dies, but it just seems to the person that they just passed out. The person dies only for a minute or less. While the person is 'sleeping', the 'ties' of immortality begin to form."

I continued to explain the best I could.

"The ties of immortality starts connecting to the heart, which is considers the source of life when dealing with immortality, and begins healing any wounds immediately, in a way like sewing. After that, the strings somehow connects its self the area where the person died and the immortal process occurred. Think of the 'ties' of immortality as a spider web. The web can only stretch out so far, and all the silk threads goes to the center, and imagine the spider being the person, and that the spider can only stay on the web.

"The center is the heart, the threads are the ties of immortality, the spider is the person, and the web is the boundary where it can only stay in. I don't really know why the 'ties' of immortality only allows the person to stay within the boundary, maybe it's so that the immortality stays stable, or it can help keep the soul or spirit still on this Earth, I'm not sure. So, imagine that one of the threads is tied around on of the spider's leg, making sure that the spider stays within the boundary. If we can sever the tie of immortality that is connected to the person, it could set them free, most likely..."

I finished explaining, though, I might have over explained it. I hoped they understood what I had said.

"That's great!" Yori smiled. I stayed silent for a long moment, I knew that Yori didn't completely understood, but I continued.

"Well... Immortality affects the heart... and to cut the ties... and the ties are connected to the heart... The person has to be stabbed in a certain area in the heart... by someone who hasn't been touched by immortality..." Yori's smile dropped and the room was completely silent.

"W-What? Why?"

"Like I said, the ties are connected to the heart... but for it to be a certain person to do it, I don't understand, immortality is extremely complex. But I found this out from someone who was taking notes and recording things after I died... they done a _few_ experiments to reverse immortality, but they never really wanted to reverse it, they just wanted to see if it's able to be reversed... The record about reversing immortality, some parts seem to be missing, I went into the room to look for more information, but it seems that it's nowhere to be found..."

"But will it work?" Yori asked.

"...I... I came up with two highly possible theories of what might happen..." I paused for a moment. "Theory one... If you stab the heart correctly, the children will be set free of immortality and will be able to leave this place..." Itsuki got real silent.

"...Itsuki, what's the second theory..?" Yori asked hesitantly.

Itsuki didn't say anything for a long moment, then said, "Or.. Or they will die..."

"What?"

"They will either live or they will die... because, technically, dying is like being free from immortality... you're free from suffering forever... And if they do live, they will age and become normal children... I'm sorry, but this is what I discovered..." I lowered my voice.

"This can't be! There has to be another way!" Yori said, getting all frustrated.

"There isn't really another way..." I said in a quiet tone.

"Well, you're going to have to look and find one!" Yori said.

"Yori-kun... he won't be able to find one..." said the twins in unison, supporting me.

The children went in a huddle, then after a while, they came back to us.

"We thought about it and... we say we should give it a try..." Kaito said, the others nodded.

"And that... we only trust you, Yori, to help free us..." Miku added.

"W-What?" Yori's eyes widen. "I-I'm not going to stab you guys in the heart! I-I just can't! I don't you you children to die!"

"It's only a possibility... Plus, if we do die, we'll still be free and our souls will move on..." Gackupo pointed out. Yori shook his head.

"No! I-I can't! I-I don't want you to die! You're just children!" Yori protested.

"Must we remind you that we aren't really the age we look? We're over two-hundred years old." Meiko said, giving a small, sad smile.

I closed my eyes a bit, not wanting to see Yori in this state. I knew how hard it was to be in his position. I wished he didn't have to go and make such a hard choice.

"Still! I-I can't! If the chance takes the side of the second theory... I-I can't! I-I won't do it! You're pretty much asking me to kill you!" his tone began to rise.

"Freedom is freedom, Yori. We want someone we can definitely trust and that's you, we want no one else to do it." Kaito said. Yori shook his head.

"No! I won't! I won't do it! I don't want you to die!" he shouted.

"So you want us to continue suffering? Continuing to live on and on forever without even leaving this room, not being able to change along with the world?" Meiko said.

"No!" Yori shook his head again. "I-I just can't do it, okay? I just won't!"

"Yori-kun..." Teto's soft voice spoke with a touch of sadness.

"No! I won't! If you want to take that chance, go ahead! But I'm not going to do it!" Yori shook his head one last time. Yori walked pasted us and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Yori-kun..."

I completely lowered my head. "Gomen…M-Maybe Yori's right. I should try harder to find another way and—."

"Itsuki…You worked hard, we know you did…" Teto stated quietly.

"We're completely fine with it…" Meiko stated.

"Why can't Yori just do this favor for us?" Kaito stomped in frustration. "Freedom is freedom!"

"You don't understand what it feels like…taking life away from someone you care about…" I stated silently, remembering my own—well, old memories.

"Itsuki…can we please read your mind and thoughts?" the twins had asked. "And let us feel what you're feeling a little bit more?"

I stared at them, "I think it's best if you don't…"

"We won't judge you or anything…We just want to understand you better." Rin had stated.

I hesitated for the longest moment, before sitting down. "Okay…but, please, forgive me for the things I've done."

The twins gave a nod. I exhaled as I let go, allowing them to be able to enter my mind. I didn't really feel anything. Judging from movies and stories, you would feel like someone was in your mind, but, there was nothing. I even wondered if they were even reading my thoughts and feelings.

"…Kaito, you _really_ don't need to worry about Itsuki at all…trust me…" Len stated sadly.

"…Itsuki, none if it was your fault." Rin stated. "You should stop feeling that…and I know that you loved them very much, but you did it all against you will…it couldn't be helped."

I closed my eyes as I lowered my head in response.

"What are you talking about?" Kaito asked.

"We want to know, also!" Negato whined.

I smiled as I stood up. "I'm sure Rin and Len will tell you!" I said cheerfully. "But, I have to go now; I haven't had anything to eat, actually!" then I quickly left the room, quickly walking down the halls.

I continued to walk down the halls until I found myself in front of _that_ door…I didn't even know how I got there really, I most have zoned out. Walking to that place seemed automatic to me a little. The few times I came here before, I hesitated and made sure I didn't accidently go down this direction. I hesitated as I slowly began to turn the knob. What was I even doing? They all hate me… Why am I going in for anyways? I know that the sight of me just tortures them…but…I opened the door anyways—but slowly.

I peeked inside, then took a step. I didn't see Yuki or Masaru there at the moment, but I did see Kiyoko, sitting in the corner with her head in her knees as she hugged them. I took only two steps inside, closed the door, and silently sat down. The room was completely still—so quiet it was deafening.

"…leave…" Kiyoko barely whispered—barely voicing at all.

"…I'm sorry…" I stated.

"…Leave us alone…. Go!" Kiyoko spoke much louder this time.

"…Kiyoko, I still love you." I blurted out. "I still care for all of you! I'm sorry! If I could change it all I wou—."

"GET OUT!"Kiyoko had shouted. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" I could hear her slowly start to sob.

I paused, slowly giving a nod as I silently left.

"I promise, I'll be able to set things right…" I whispered after I left.

* * *

><p>AN: I only own what I own and stuff and stuff!

Weird Girl: (nomming on cookies)

Bob: ...Ah hem?

Weird Girl: OH! PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WISH TO HAVE A GOOD WEEK AND MORE CHAPTERS!

Bob: And remember, there are no such things as monsters hiding in your closet.

Weird Girl: Exactly! Only under your beds! :3

Bob: ...

Weird Girl: I'M A PRINCESS! HEAR ME RAWR! Meow~ (evil face)

Bob: ...


	20. Chapter 20 Freedom

Weird Girl: UPDATED!

Bob: What else is new?

Weird Girl: ...I'm an elephant. :3

Bob: ...What?

Weird Girl: =w= Yup, I'm an elephant!

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><p><strong>Freedom<strong>

"Yori!" I called out as I went running after him. I decided that I should go talk to Yori, thinking I should go and help him out.

"What do you want?" Yori sounded extremely irritated, still upset.

"Yori…the children wants to be free and—."

"Then why don't you do it? You're the scientist, you should know where to strike or whatever." he interrupted.

"As I was saying, they want _you_ to free them, nobody else." I stated

"Well, I'm not going to stab them in the heart! It's just wrong okay?"

"Yori, you want them to be free, they want to be free. You're the one who is able to do it. You only have to strike one child, and that's Kaito. I discovered that the children and the ties of immortality are all connected. Hit Kaito's heart, you free _all_of them from that room- from immortality! That's-"

"Itsuki!" Yori shouted. "Just leave me alone right now! I don't want to talk about it at the moment and I know that the children asked you to help convince me to do it!"

"Yori..." Yori turned back around and continued walking. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home..." Yori said.

"But aren't you going to visit Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki?"

"You can go visit them, I had a talk with them about you, so they won't kill you and you can regain their trust again; and maybe you could tell them what you found... I don't know." Yori answered. He continued walking until he left the building.

I paused for a moment. I had already gone to see Kiyoko, Yuki, and Masaru… If Yori already had spoken to them about everything, did they still not care? I knew they still hate me, despite Yori having a talk with them… Should I turn around and go see them once more? I guess I should, after what I found…they deserve to know….but, when they hear how I could cure them from their curse, and tell the results, how are they going to react? How are they going to feel?

I forced myself to turn back around and to go back to the room. I went back up and down the halls to Yuki's, Masaru's and Kiyoko's room. I slowly began to open the door, then entered. Kiyoko was still in the same position she was in.

"…So, Yori did talk to you then?" I asked.

No response.

"That explains why you didn't try to kill me…" I sighed. "Kiyoko…Masaru, Yuki, you all still hate me, don't you?"

Still no response.

"…But I'm going to set things right! I'm going to fix everything!" I stated confidently. I deeply inhaled as I continued. "I believe I found a way…to…to make you all no longer immortal!"

The room was quiet, but Kiyoko slowly raised her head to look at me as Yuki and Masaru finally appeared, but remaining close to Kiyoko. "…What…?"

"I believe…I have found a way…to, to free you all!" I stated.

"Free us…? From _immortality_?" Kiyoko whispered. "Impossible…"

"Once immortal, you can't go back…" Masaru stated silently.

"But, I really believed I have found a way…" I stated.

"…How though? How can we become free?" Yuki asked. Unlike Masaru and Kiyoko, for some reason, she didn't seem as mad or hurt…and when I began to speak about free them, she seemed more curious than completely denying it. I was glad that at least Yuki wanted to hear me out.

I sat down –though, at a distance that they would prefer me to be at, and slowly and carefully began explaining what I had explained to Yori and the others. How immortality was formed, using analogies, explaining how Immortality works, how it creates boundaries and why…and then I explained how to free them from immorality and the two possible results from the cure…

Kiyoko laid her head on her knees once more. Not responding.

"What about Yuki and me?" Masaru asked. "We're already dead, nothing but spirits, how are you going to free us, huh?"

I paused. "You two are most likely bound here for a reason…since you guys are already spirits; the ties are loose enough as it is…it'll be easy to just simply untie them…"

"What's going to happen to us once we're free? Masaru and me, that is…" Yuki quietly asked.

I thought for a moment before answering. "You and Masaru…you'll move on. You'll be able to rest…"

"And leave Kiyoko alone?" Masaru stomped his foot. "I won't!"

Half of me was glad they were listening; the other half finally understood why they weren't able to move on now. "No…she won't be alone… Yori, me, and our friends will look after her… We'll free her as well, and we'll be able to—."

"But like you said, either I live on like a normal person, or I will die by stabbing me in the heart." Kiyoko finally spoke, but then spoke darkly, "Either way, you're going to kill me twice."

That struck me hard. The memories of how I just left her—how I was the one that truly killed her, began to come back when she mentioned how I was the one that killed her, and how I'm pretty much going to kill her twice. "N-No, Kiyoko…I-I…I'm sorry! I-I'm sorry!"

"He's trembling…" Yuki had whispered as she grabbed Masaru's hand, getting closer to him.

I hadn't realized that I had begun trembling. I looked at my hands as they shook and became white. Suddenly, I saw drops of water fall onto my hand—my own tears. I found myself dropping to the floor, in the apologizing position as I continued to cry.

"I'm sorry, Kiyoko, Masaru, Yuki!" I began. "I know what I've done was unforgivable! But I really do want to set things right for what I've done in the past! Please! I have no intention of hurting any of you! I never had, even from that day I never wanted to hurt you guys! Please, I—."

I paused as I slowly looked up at them. Yuki, Masaru—even Kiyoko, were all staring at me, with a surprised expression. The room was completely silent. I was curious on why they were staring at me like that. I remembered that they never seen me like this before—after all, I was practically having a meltdown. Could that be the reason why they were staring at me like that? I didn't know, but I sat up and forced myself to calm down, wiping my face with my sleeve.

"…Are you…really going to set us free…?" Kiyoko asked after the long silence. "This isn't just a cruel joke you created…?"

"I don't want any of you to suffer anymore." I stated. "You all suffered more than long enough—you guys shouldn't have suffered at all…no one should."

"…We'll have trust in you…to set us free…"

When I was at home, asleep, I still had my dreams of my memories from the past—except, I only saw a few…the good memories. Which was strange, because usually, good or bad, after the memory of how I, Jochen, died, the cycle of the memories would restart, playing over and over like a movie put on repeat.

I woke up with better sleep, heading down stairs as I began to eat a bowl of cereal. When I was cleaning my bowl, Mother had walked in.

"Itsuki…How are you?" she asked.

"I'm doing great!" I stated cheerfully. I noticed Mother was forcing a smile.

"Really? Well…that's good."

"…Is something wrong?"

"Itsuki…You would tell me everything, right? How you feel? What's been going on lately? What's been on your mind?"

I realized that she's been suspicious for quiet sometime now, but I continued to lie to her. "Of course!"

She paused for a moment, like she wanted to add something, but instead, she gave me a tight hug as she kissed me on the forehead before leaving the room. My entire life, I've practically been lying to my mother every single day without guilt—which, I know is horrible. But today, I did feel guilty, which never had happened before. I did my best to shake it off. Then, my C-Phone began to right. I answered it.

"Moshi? Moshi?"

"Itsuki…It's me, Yori." Yori's voice came from the other side of my cell phone. "I made my decision."

"You did? What is it?"

"…I'm going to set them free…but, I need your help, of course. I'm already at the orphanage with Kaito and the others."

"I'll see you there then."

"Goodbye." Yori then hung up.

I quickly went on my way to the orphanage, meeting up with Yori. I went inside and went to the room. When I arrived, I looked over at Yori.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Itsuki asked. Yori slowly nodded his head.

"Yes... I'm sure." Yori answered. "Just...tell me what to do."

"Okay." I turned to Kaito, gesturing my hand for him to come over. Kaito came over, smiling with excitement. I bent down to his height and opened the top part of Kaito's yukata to reveal a strange scar that was over his heart. It was a black dot the size of an American dime, with ten lines coming out from it.

I recognized the strange scar. It's a scar from the machine, Eien, would create when you hook it up to a child, over the heart. Though, majority of the children never really survived, but even so, that scar was always left behind.

"There," I began, "is where you need to strike..." Yori gave a small nod.

Kaito reached into his sleeve and pulled out his knife, placing it into Yori's hand. Yori stared at it. I knew he began to feel uncomfortable.

"Here, use this." Kaito said. Yori looked at Itsuki.

"You need to make a clean strike right on the dot." I stated. Yori looked over at Kaito.

"Itsuki... Why don't you go free Kiyoko while I do this?" Yori said. I thought about it before I nodded as I left.

I was walking down the hall until I realized that I didn't have a blade or anything sharp. I decided to walk to the lab before going over to their room. I casually walked inside the lab and grabbed a blade, but inside, I was trying to block the horrible things I had seen before. When I turned around to go out the door again, I saw the few scientists that had died in here. They were all staring at me in surprise.

"Nice to see you all, too." I smirked as I quickly walked out. For some reason, I found that amusing. But I knew it wasn't time to laugh, so I continued down my way.

When I arrived, I saw Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki all standing together as they stood in the center. They all looked at me as I walked in. "Hello…" I greeted.

"Hello…" They greeted back.

"Well, today's the day…"

They gave a nod.

I walked over to Kiyoko. I knew that Kiyoko wouldn't have the scar over her heart, I knew it would work either way because that's where the ties of immortality was connected to, plus, I've practically memorized where the scar would be if they did get one.

"I…I'm ready…" Kiyoko stated in hesitation.

I nodded also as I tightly gripped the knife. I took a deep breath as I raised it. As I started to strike, I quickly stopped with the blade tip barely touching even the fabric of her kimono.

"I'm sorry…I can't seem to—."

"It's okay." Kiyoko interrupted as she wrapped her hands around mine and thrust the blade into her heart herself.

The knife was pulled out and Kiyoko collapsed. I quickly caught her as I sat down holding her close. Kiyoko placed her hands over her heart as it bled and began to gasp. I did my best to hold her close.

"Is she going to be okay…?" Masaru asked.

I looked at Yuki and Masaru and saw that they were placing their hand over their heart. Were they feeling what she was feeling? If so, it mustn't be affecting them much. I just stared at them. I didn't know what to answer.

"…I'm fine…" Kiyoko stated finally.

"Really?" I pulled away a little as I began to check to see if she was fine. Her bleeding had stopped as I saw her wound had healed. Did it work? Did I fail? I helped Kiyoko up as we both stared in confusion.

"Did it work?" Kiyoko asked.

"Let's find out…" I smiled as I took her hand and began to walk over and out the door.

Kiyoko smiled as she only took one step out. We slowly began to laugh out of joy, until we looked over behind us at Yuki and Masaru. They were only standing in the door way, staring at us.

"Jochen…We're scared…" Yuki whispered.

"If there are other like us…immortal and immortal spirits…then are there immortal scientists…?" Masaru asked.

I paused. "…Don't worry, they won't hurt you…I won't allow it." I said as I took Masaru's and Yuki's hand.

Yuki and Masaru slowly began to take a step out the door, then they ran and hugged both me and Kiyoko. "We're going to miss you…"

"Our time apart won't be long…" I stated with a smile. "But in the meantime, you're going to make many friends with other little boys and girls…and you'll get to play with many toys with them. Everyone will be nice and friendly, too…"

Masaru looked at Kiyoko. "Is that true?"

"Is that really, really true?" Yuki asked.

Kiyoko smiled as she gave a nod, hugging them closer. "Yes…it's very true…"

The next thing we knew, they just…disappeared. Evaporated into air…but air was soft and warm. The atmosphere had grown warm and gentle…peaceful. I looked over at Kiyoko who was crying…but, they weren't tears of blood. They were water. Kiyoko began to laugh as she looked over at me.

"Now…let's go meet up with Yori." I said as I took her hand as began to run down the hall.

We continued down the hall until we met up with Yori and the others.

"It worked, Yori!" I cheered. "It worked!"

"Jochen was right! We're free!" Kiyoko said. "He freed all of us! Me and... Masaru and Kiyoko... Though, he freed them in a different way and they moved on... but still, we're _free_!"

"I'm so happy!" Yori said. "Now, let's go in the snow, shall we?" We all started heading towards the entrance of the building.

We arrived outside the building. Snow was falling and everything was white. The day was beautiful. Kaito and his grouped played. Yori was enjoying watching them. I was with Kiyoko.

We held hands as we walked over to an area that we both remembered clearly. Kyoko walked under a tree, the special tree. She turned to me and smiled happily.

"Do you remember, Jochen…?" Kiyoko began. "When we both stood under here? When we said we loved each other? When we kissed?"

"Like it was yesterday…" I chuckled because of how true that was.

Kiyoko reached into her kimono and pulled out the comb I had given her long ago. "I always kept this close to me…" She had taken out the barrettes that Yori had given her, clipped them to her kimono.

I took the decorative comb and carefully placed it in her hair. "I never stopped loving you…"

"Neither have I—." at that moment, Kiyoko collapsed.

I quickly dropped to my knees and picked her up, holding her in my arms. "Kiyoko! Kiyoko, tell me what's wrong!"

Kiyoko started to gasp in pain as she clutched both her hands over her heart. She removed her hands to look at them to find that they were covered in blood. Her wounds reopened. She was bleeding to death. "O-Oh…"

"Kiyoko! No!" I cried.

"J-Jochen, I'm going to be fine…" She smiled. "I'm going to be fine…"

"Kiyoko! Please! You are going to be fine! We can run and get you help and –."

"No." Kiyoko interrupted, though, I saw her eyes getting heavy, getting extremely tired. "Don't do that…"

"Kiyoko! I love you! Please, don't leave me!" I sobbed.

"Jochen…I'm not leaving you…" Kiyoko barely breathed. "…I'll never leave you…" then she gave a deep exhale.

"Kiyoko! Kiyoko!" I screamed her name, sobbing, trying to shake her awake. I held her close as I continued to sob. "Kiyoko…"

I felt Yori place a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

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><p>AN: I don't own vocaloid or whatever, no suing!

Weird Girl: (crying)

Bob: ...Did you seriously need to play sad music while writing that?

Weird Girl: ;3; YES! IT HELPS SET THE MOOD!

Bob: ...

Weird Girl: ;3; Reviews will get a little stuffed animal that they could huggle, silent readers will be eaten by Bob!

Bob: ...Wait, what?


	21. Chapter 21 Realization

Weird Girl: WHOOT! UPDATED-NESS!

Bob: Finally.

Weird Girl: D: Give me some slack! I have a story I'm trying to write on FictionPress, had to update regularly, and writing this story while having school and homework!

Bob: ...What happened to "I only write one story at a time"?

Weird Girl: ...SILENCE YOU FOOL!

Bob: ...This just occured to me that this is still on going...

Weird Girl: Chii~! ^w^

* * *

><p><strong>Realization<strong>

I stared at their graves, all thirteen of them. Kiyoko's, Masaru's, Yuki's…Kaito and the others… Yori and I had buried them—a couple meters away from the property of that hellish "orphanage". The snow stopped falling when we had the items that we had given them placed on their graves. We had carved their names in decent sized rocks and placed it on each of their graves. Yori seemed to raise his chest high, knowing we did the right thing, knowing that they're free, in a better place. But I was devastated, taking it harder.

It felt like a dream—one of the memories I would just wake up from. I would just wake up, everything would be normal. Yori, Mayu, and I would just be in the park, drinking hot chocolate and coffee, talking about college. We never went through the forest…never (re)discover the building…never found anyone inside the building…memories never created… I've been standing by their graves since we finished their graves, and it was now dark. It was colder than ever and it began to snow once more. There was no moon, and the only lights that were out were the star. I just silently stared at their graves…all my tears dried up despite continuing to cry inside.

Yori placed a hand on my shoulder, "Itsuki…it's really late… We should go home now."

I had forgotten that he was still there, with me. "Ah…" was all I said, but I just continued to stand there, dazed.

"…Let's go." Yori placed an arm around me as he slowly leading me away from their graves, and back to my house.

Yori had accompanied me back to my house—though, we didn't speak a word…it wouldn't be like I would say anything anyways. We just continued to walk in silence until Yori once again reached my door.

"Itsuki…things will be better, I promise." Yori said with a nod. "But gets some good night rest. You need it." He gave me a firm, warm pat on my shoulder as he turned around and left.

I walked inside my house and started heading up stairs into my room and fell asleep laying in my bed. I had no dreams—for the first time in my life…no dreaming…no memories. It was all blank. I was glad for that…yet, some part of me missed it. As if, I wanted my memories back—but what for? To torture me? Or was it because I wanted to remember how I spend the happy days with Yuki, Masaru, and Kiyoko? To remember the laughter, the excitement of sneaking outside, my first kiss, the games I played with them and the warmth of the happiness during the ignorant times? I had my first, light sleep…once again, I was glad, yet…I hated it.

I wanted to suffer more. I felt like I deserved to have a heavier sleep—heavier than the sleep I used to get when I had the memories…even the bad ones. I wanted to force myself to be miserable. I felt like I didn't deserve to be happy.

The next morning, I laid in bed for five hours after waking up, but I got out of bed and got dressed when it was noon. I went down stairs and found my mother in the living room. She came up to me with a worried look hiding under a strict look.

"Itsuki! Where have you been? I know you didn't come home until midnight! Where were you?" she asked.

I looked at her blankly, then turned away and began to walk out the door.

"Itsuki! Don't turn away when I'm talking to you!" she yelled, but I had already gone out.

I went to the forest and stood by their graves, placing some wild flowers on all thirteen of them. For the rest of the time, I just stood there, staring silently. Night fell and snow began to fall once more. I left, though, not heading home. I went to this river that was outside of town that had a bridge crossing it. I remember that bridge—I crossed it when I first came here to work for Mr. Bayer and Mr. Watahiro.

I stood in the middle of the bridge, leaning forward against the low railing, staring at the thinly frozen river. I stared down at the river, eyes dried up of tears, but I wanted to continue to cry. I thought about my life, about how I could have did much more if I tried harder…tried harder for a better ending, but I didn't…

I hadn't realized how far I was leaning, because the next thing I knew, I flipped over, landing on my back against the cold ice—only for it to shatter, allowing me to fall in the ice water. The river was flowing, and it pulled me a bit away from the opening. At first, I tried to find my way back, but I instantly gave up. What's the point? I stopped swimming and closed my eyes.

_Please, Jochen, live…! You need to live on, for us!"_ I heard a familiar voice in my head speak to me. Was it my conscious? Was I just losing it? Or was it…? I didn't know. But I started to reach out my hand—but what for? I didn't know exactly, I just started to reach out my hand with my eyes remaining closed. I felt someone grab onto my arm, pulling me up.

The next thing I remember was someone pulling me onto land, forcing me to sit up instead of lying down. I felt a thick, dry jacket placed around me. Someone was shaking me as they yelled in great frustration and concern.

"Itsuki! What the hell do you think you were doing? Tell me right now, what do you thinking?" I opened my eyes and saw Yori. He looked so angry at me…but his eyes said that he was scared, worried, concern.

I stared at him blankly, not saying a single word.

"Itsuki! Answer me, damn it! Were you just going to let yourself drown?" Yori continued to shout. I started to get dizzy and everything slowly began to turn black. Yori sounded more concern. "Itsuki? Itsuki, are you okay? Itsuki!"

I completely passed out.

I woke up and it was midnight and I found myself in the hospital. I saw that Yori, Mayu…and my mother, were all in the room. Mother was sitting in a chair, close to my bed as her eyes were puffy and red from crying—and still was. Yori was standing over by the door and Mayu by the window.

"He's awake." My mother stated through her scratchy voice.

I gave a sigh as I turned my head.

"Itsuki! What is wrong with you?" Yori began scolding once more.

"You know what's wrong with me…" I quietly stated.

"Doesn't mean you should try to commit suicide—!"

"I didn't try!" I retorted.

"So, you didn't just give up trying to save yourself?"

I went silently.

"Itsuki, how could you do something like that?" Mayu stated.

I gave no reply.

"…Mayu, let's go. Let's leave him and his mother alone for a while… Besides, we have to go home now…" Yori stated. He knew I would start feeling guilty if I were left alone.

Yori and Mayu left, and the room was filled with silence with only me and my mother. I didn't look at her. Neither of us said anything at first, but my mother was the first one to speak.

"Itsuki, what's wrong?" My mother began. "Have I done something wrong? What happened? Why won't you tell me anything?"

I gave no response.

"Itsuki! Answer me right now!" she demanded through tears.

"You wouldn't understand—."

"Then make me understand!"

I finally looked back at her. I stared at her for a moment before speaking. I began to tell her the story—the entire truth… My entire life of my past life… How I knew as long as I could remember… How Yori, Mayu, and I (re)found that place… How we met the children…how I found Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki once more…how I set them free—through a second death. My mother sat there silent with tears still flowing, having a hand over her mouth. When I finished, I just stared at my mother.

"I-Itsuki…I-I didn't know…I-I…" I knew she didn't know what to say.

"You don't have to say anything mother." I stated.

"…But, Itsuki…you do know that you're a different person, right?" She asked. "Anything you did wrong in that life isn't held against you, right? Itsuki, you did the right thing in the end…! No matter how hard it seemed to let them go…and I may never truly understand…but…I'm proud of you…you turned out to be a very strong man…" she said. "…Itsuki…you're not Jochen… You're Itsuki…"

I stared at my mother. I saw how her light brown, ever so slight wavy hair framing her face. I saw how despite being fifty, she looked ten years younger with barely any wrinkles. I looked at her red, puffy eyes that had finally stopped crying. They were what made her look youthful…those light, gentle, velvet brown eyes. I had just realized that I have the exact same eyes as my mother. I remembered that some wise person said that eyes were the gate way to one's soul. I've always been curious on how I could look so much like Jochen—I didn't even look like my father let alone my mother, but have completely different eyes than Jochen. I wondered if there was a reason behind it… Maybe I wasn't Jochen anymore—unlike how I constantly told myself over the years.

I had begun to realize how selfish I've been. I've neglected my mother and treated her badly and lied so much. I went so over board with it, about how much I wanted to suffer, I almost killed myself. Yori had lost his ten immortal friends, but he knew they were fine and went on living. I knew I did the right thing, I knew they were in a better place now, but I _wanted_ to wallow in sorrow because _I_ deserved it… I didn't even think about looking on the bright-side.

I was now tired once more and my eyes grew heavy. "Mother…I'm glad I have your eyes…" I said to my mother before falling asleep.

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><p>AN: I don't own vocaloid or anything. I only own what I own.

Bob:...Yup.

Weird Girl: Yup.

Dog: Mm hm.

Bob: ... = =;;

Weird Girl: Review if you like to have a talking dog or cat...or monkey...pet of your choosing! Silent Reviewers will be left out in the snow!

Bob: It's not winter here yet...

Weird Girl: D: THEY DON'T KNOW THAT!

Bob: ...(Facepalm)


	22. Chapter 22 Brighter

Weird Girl: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!

Bob: It's not my-

Weird Girl: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU~! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BOB~~! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! :D

Bob: = =;

Weird Girl: (Hands pie)

Bob: ...Isn't it suppose to be cake?

Weird Girl: Yes, but, the cake is a lie. ^_^

Bob: ... = =

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><p><strong>Brighter<strong>

I was up and out of the hospital and was out with Yori and Mayu. I began to look at the brighter side of things unlike how I used to be so pessimistic. Half the time I'm myself, the other half I'm the weird, goofy guy I would pretend to be—except now, I have a different reason. It makes me happy, convinces me to be much happier, never to be gloomy and down like how I used to. It made me feel like everything is so clear...makes me feel so much lighter!

Not only that, I set a goal for myself—to live on for Kiyoko, Masaru, Yuki…and the others that didn't have time to live their own lives. I believe that's Yori's plan also. I plan to go to places I wanted to take Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki—as if they were with me still. Yori and Mayu laughed when they heard I went to a restaurant and order a seat for four—when I was the only one there.

Yori and Mayu and I were at the park, while they drank coffee and I had a hot chocolate. It was a lovely day; the sun was out bright in the winter slowly forming into the spring atmosphere. I was happier than ever before—and I think Yori and Mayu were also.

"Come one, Itsuki, you need to start drinking coffee eventually. College is only going to get harder, you know!" Mayu laughed.

"I don't care! I will forever refuse coffe!" I laughed back.

"I know you want to…!" Mayu held her cup up against my lips. "Just a sip!"

I gave a sigh, sipping the coffee, but then made a disgusted taste, "Yuck! I told you!"

"Well, it's an acquired taste." Yori stated.

"Doesn't matter! I'm never going to drink coffee again." I stated with a smile.

"Well, okay." Yori said.

I looked at my watch. "Oh, it's time for me to go!" I got up, "See ya!"

They waved goodbye as I left. I bought a lot of flowers before heading into the forest. I went to see their graves, but this time, with a better attitude. I arrived to their graves, placing an equal amount of flowers on each grave. I went to Kiyoko's, Masaru's, and Yuki's grave.

"Hello." I greeted as I sat down. I began to have a conversation with them, telling about my week, what events been happening. I acted like they were there with me—no, they were, and they could hear me. When I was done, I decided to visit the building.

I walked a bit farther into the forest until I saw the "orphanage." I stood right in front of it, staring at how old it looked. I began to think if there were any more immortals and immortal spirits left inside that building—and I knew there were. I began to think about the innocent ones that were still trapped there. I began to wonder…if I was able to help them all…to let them all free.

I know how we could free them…and I know there isn't any other way but _that_ way. But, why should they deserve to live forever—trapped? That's just like leaving a tortured person with great wounds in a storm, waiting for them to die but it will never happened. I pulled out my c-phone and called Yori.

"Hey…Yori…Can you help me with something?" I began, "But first…I want you to tell me how this sounds."

* * *

><p>AN: I don't own vocaloid and stuff, I own what I own.

Weird Girl: (Hands present) OPEN IT! OPEN IT!

Bob: (opens present)...An extremely large candy cane and a liquid soap...?

Weird Girl: LIQUID SOAP TO MAKE BUBBLES AND CANDY CANE BECAUSE IT'S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD! :D

Bob: But...my favorite food is-

Weird Girl: I know, it's candy canes!

Bob: No, it's-

Weird Girl: Review if you wish Bob a happy birthday and to give him a present! :D Silent readers will be forced to Vinzenz. =w=

Bob: ...He's not even in this chapter...

Weird Girl: YOU ACTUALLY REMEMBERED WHO HE WAS THOUGH! :'D I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, BOB!

Bob: ... = = Why don't you say...the...um...scientists...?

Weird Girl: I'm not that cruel! D: Bob, you jerk!

Bob: = =ll||


	23. Chapter 23 Hello

Weird Girl: BEHOLD! THE LAST CHAPTER OF "ITSUKI AND THE MEMORIES OF JOCHEN"!

Bob: ...I don't think you even did that right!

Weird Girl: Well, I don't know if it's underline or quotes! D: I forgot!

Bob: Then _ask_!

Weird Girl: Too bad, deal with it! STORY BEGINS...NOW!

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><p><strong>Hello<strong>

Many years had passed, and I have grown old.

Yori and I had completed our mission on freeing the others that were still trapped inside. When we were finished, we burned any files, books, documents, and anything that dealt with immortality. We sealed up all the rooms and windows—inside and out (which was difficult). When we were sealing up the lab, we noticed that there were nails and rotted wood on the door—as if someone sealed it up once. So me and Yori both made sure it was extremely sealed up—extreme concrete glued and nailed it shut. We left the scientists in there, locked up, since there was no way to help them. They were corrupted, dangerous, and wouldn't want any help, just waiting for a new experiment to enter.

I went to find Vinzenz in Jochen's room and try to convince him to be set free, but all he said was, "Let me be destroyed this place…" and laughed. I knew there was no way to help Vinzenz, so after we had cleaned that room from any documents, files, and books to burn them, we had sealed that room. And finally, we sealed the front door most of all—extreme super gluing it, nailing it shut, and leading the growing ivy to grow over and across the two front doors, so when they grow to be strong, it would be nearly impossible to just pull it off. Yori and I knew that the building would come down eventually—whether it was due to age, becoming weak and collapsing on itself, or destroyed by falling trees or by man. I knew that if the building was destroyed, the binding between spirit and room would become unstable, destroy it. I don't know what the outcome would be. It could be that they're release from their binding and able to move on, or be forever trapped in this world, or something else. I didn't know. But nobody had ever touched that place—at least, for all the years Yori, Mayu, and I would routinely check.

Yori and Mayu had broken up three times, but ended up marrying each other in the end. They had five children of their own—three boys and two girls. They lived on, got married and had their own kids. Yori and Mayu lived on to see their first great grandchild to be born, but died a few months after. I out lived them.

As for my life, I had never gotten married. I had always loved Kiyoko, and never found a new love—though, I know Kiyoko would have wanted me to and would have been okay with it. But I chose not to. But, I did things that I would have wanted to do with or show Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki. I even went to Berlin—though, I know I am no longer Jochen, I went anyways. That was where I first adopted my two eldest children—twin boys, when I was twenty seven. We arrived home in Japan, and three years later, I adopted two girls. I believed I had spoiled them a bit as they grew, but they were always wonderful. Whenever they asked why I wasn't married, I would only smile and say, "I can't help but remain in love with my first love." As they grew older, they were worried about me ending up alone, but I told them I would never be truly alone. They grew, married, and started a life of their own. I was glad that I had lived long enough to see two of my great grandchildren born into this world.

I slowly began to stop traveling as I and the children grew older, and stayed more around the home town. I continued to visit _their_ graves, placing flowers on them every time, until it became much more difficult for me to walk. I remember the last day I visited the grave, I heard a huge crash that came nearby. I had found that the old building had finally gave way and collapsed. Even though the building had stopped bothering me years ago, I felt another type of relief fall over me. When I was heading back to my home, I said goodbye to everyone for the last time.

I lay in my bed, thinking about my life. I had preach to my children and my children's children to never give up, look on the brighter side, and that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. I smile to myself every time I think about it, wishing that I knew those lessons when I was much younger—but, the past is in the past, and I am grateful that I did eventually learn it.

I had laid here in my bed, telling my story and Jochen's story out loud. I don't care who hears me, it's night like I still have evidence to prove that it really did happen or not. I only started telling this story a few months after that building collapsed anyways. But whoever hears, I will be glad if someone will believe me—or not! Heh, and I wouldn't care if anyone goes around telling, like I said, there is no proof and I'm getting older and older. I haven't seen Kiyoko, Masaru, and Yuki or any memories in my dreams ever since the day Yori and I set them free.

But you see, I know my time is here… I am growing sleepy, with heavy eye lids as I lay here in my bed…but I know this time, I won't be reborn…at least, for now. As I rest with my eyes closed, I feel much lighter, but I began to see things—flowers growing, the sun is brightly shining, trees growing green and healthy—the atmosphere has such a gleeful feeling as if it was spring. But I feel like…someone's waiting for me… I shouldn't keep them waiting… Well, goodbye for now…!

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Itsuki had drifted off into his eternal sleep. The place was like he said—a beautiful place of beautiful trees and flowers everywhere with the sun brightly shining...with the sense of someone waiting for him. His image was much younger—the age of twenty. He saw a butterfly, and began to follow it. As he continued to follow the butterfly until he began to run faster and faster, until he was running past the insect. When he entered a clearing out of the trees, he saw a beautiful field of more flowers…and familiar faces.

"Hey! What took you so long?" Vinzenz laughed, walking up to him, shaking his hand in greeting. "It's about time, you know!"

"Oh, stop teasing him, Vinzenz." Aloisia had stated. "He wanted to take his time, why should he just rush?"

"I agree with Vinzenz." Mayu stated. "He should have rushed!"

"Stop teasing him already!" Yori had laughed.

Itsuki turned his head to see Mayu and Yori standing with each other over by Kaito and his siblings…but, there were three other people he didn't quiet recognized, yet, he felt like he knew them. One of them was a young woman, with long, black hair down to her waist. She had thick, long, dark eye lashes with her grey-blue eyes. She wore a green sports tee-shirt with ripped blue jeans. The other was a young man who had brown hair and eyes, wearing a deep red, elbow length sleeved shirt and brown pants. The other one was another young woman with wavy darkish-brown, shoulder length hair and forest green eyes. She wore a black, elbow-length, v-neck shirt and baggy, dark green pants. She looked like a complete tomboy. The clothes were like an old style to Itsuki, but they smiled at him.

"Hey! Look! He's finally here!" the twins, Rin and Len, stated as they pointed to him.

"Yumi! Jinto! Yuko! He also helped us!" Miku stated to them. "He's really nice!"

The black haired girl, Yumi, came up to Itsuki and gave him a hug. "Thank you… You helped them more than I ever could."

"Especially more than Jinto ever done—which wasn't much." Yuko teased. Jinto just gave a smirk at her telling her to shut up. Yumi let go and went to the others. Itsuki continued to walk forward.

"Yuki! Masaru! He's here!" Teto called out. "He's here!"

Itsuki saw Yuki and Masaru quickly running over to him, giving him a hug. "We missed you! We made new friends and it's a lot of fun here!"

Itsuki gave them a great big hug back. Masaru and Yuki let go, moved to the side a bit for him to continue moving forward. Itsuki recognized a face and smiled as he and a man not too older than Itsuki hugged in greeting.

"Brother, welcome!" Erich stated. "Is it okay for me to call you Jochen? Or do you go by Itsuki now?" he laughed.

Itsuki laughed as he gave a nod as he shrugged a bit.

Erich gestured to two men that stood a far bit to the side. "Do you remember Fest and Evert from the photo I sent you?"

Itsuki gave a nod. He went up and shook hands with his brother's friends.

"I told you he would remember us!" Evert stated.

"Eh, sure." Fester muttered, but was still smiling.

"She's over there." Itsuki turned to the two the feminine voices and saw it was his mothers—one from when he was Itsuki, and one from when he was Jochen.

Itsuki gave them each a hug and a kiss on the cheek, continuing to move forward. As he continued to move forward, he had found her. She stood there with her back turned to him at first, but turned around with a smile when he drew closer. Her kimono was beautiful and long, her bluish-pinkish hair was nicely done in the decorative comb he had given her in his previous life. Her pale skin looked rejuvenated and her silvery grey eyes shown in the light.

Kiyoko smiled as she said, "Hello."

"Hello again." Itsuki smiled.

"I missed you." Kiyoko stated.

"I missed you, too." Itsuki stated, stroking her cheek.

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><p>AN: I don't own vocaloid or utau or that. I own what I own. So go away lawyers of evil!

Bob: ...ending was decent.

Weird Girl: :'D REALLY? ...Psh! I think it's better than decent!

Bob: Well, I'm the critic, and I say decent.

Weird Girl: :P

Bob: ...I bet you almost cried at the ending with the music you were playing.

Weird Girl: Yup!

Bob: ...Weirdo...

Weird Girl: D:

Weird Girl: ANYWAYS! How did you guys like the story? Out of this entire series, which one do you like the best? Which story would come in second place? Tell me what you think about the story!

**THANK YOU FOR READING!**

(Please Review)


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